US Stocks Mixed After Wednesday's Rally

U.S. stocks traded mixed this morning, with the Dow Jones falling around 180 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.52% to 34,408.74 while the NASDAQ rose 0.40% to 11,514.26. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.18% to 4,087.37.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares rose by 1.1% on Thursday. Leading the sector was strength from Five Point Holdings, LLC FPH and Franklin Street Properties Corp. FSP.

In trading on Thursday, consumer staples shares fell by 0.7%.

Top Headline

US initial jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 225,000 in the week ending November 26th.

Equities Trading UP

• Top Ships Inc. TOPS shares shot up 78% to $5.37.
• Shares of Okta, Inc. OKTA got a boost, shooting 23% to $65.53 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results. The company also issued Q4 and FY23 EPS and sales guidance above analyst estimates.
• Arco Platform Limited ARCE shares were also up, gaining 22% to $11.01 after the company announced receipt of a non-binding going private proposal.

Equities Trading DOWN

• G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. GIII shares tumbled 42% to $12.50 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 earnings and issued weak FY23 adjusted EPS guidance.
• Shares of Aziyo Biologics, Inc. AZYO were down 40% to $4.1499 after the company announced pricing of an $11.2 million public offering of common stock.
• SQZ Biotechnologies Company SQZ was down, falling 27% to $1.82 after the company announced a strategic repriortization of its portfolio, CEO Armon Sharei will step down and a workforce reduction of approximately 60%. Also, B of A Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Underpeform and lowered its price target from $9 to $2.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.6% to $82.61 while gold traded up 3.2% at $1,816.70.

Silver traded up 5.1% to $22.88 on Thursday while copper rose 1.4% to $3.7890.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1%, London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.9%. The German DAX gained 0.9%, French CAC 40 rose 0.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.6%.

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone dropped to a new record low of 6.5% in October from 6.6% in the previous month, while unemployment rate in Italy fell to 7.8% in October.

The S&P Global Eurozone manufacturing PMI fell to 47.1 in November from a preliminary level of 47.3, while German manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 46.2. The S&P Global/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI rose higher to 46.5 in November versus a preliminary reading of 46.2. The S&P Global France’s manufacturing PMI climbed to 48.3 in November versus 47.2 a month ago. The Nationwide House Price Index in the UK climbed 4.4% year-over-year in November.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, with the Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.92% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumping 0.75%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.45%.

The S&P Global Indian manufacturing PMI rose to a three-month high level of 55.7 in November versus 55.3 in the prior month. Japan’s consumer confidence index fell to 28.6 in November, while manufacturing PMI declined to 49 in November from 50.7 in October. The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose to 49.4 in November.

Economics

• US-based employers announced jobs cuts of 76,835 in November versus 33,835 in the prior month.
• US initial jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 225,000 in the week ending November 26th.
• Personal income in the US rose 0.7% from a month ago in October, while personal spending rose 0.8%.
• The personal consumption expenditure price index rose by 6% year-over-year in October.
• The S&P Global manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 47.7 in November versus a preliminary reading of 47.6.
• The ISM manufacturing PMI fell to 49 in November from 50.2 in the previous month.
• Construction spending in the US dropped 0.3% month-over-month in October.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 100,625,490 cases with around 1,105,540 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,673,380 cases and 530,620 deaths, while France reported over 37,846,790 COVID-19 cases with 158,950 deaths. In total, there were at least 648,132,530 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,640,710 deaths.