US Stocks Higher; Initial Jobless Claims Fall To 202,000

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, following the release of economic reports on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.24% to 37,180.82 while the NASDAQ rose 0.60% to 14,822.95. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.50% to 4,730.68.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 2.5% on Thursday.

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

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 202,000 in the week ending Dec. 9, well below market estimates of 220,000.

Equities Trading UP

Freight Technologies, Inc. FRGT shares shot up 392% to $1.33 after the company announced Amazon Mexico renewed its selection of Fr8App for its logistical solutions.

Shares of XBP Europe Holdings, Inc. XBP got a boost, surging 80% to $10.20 after declining around 20% on Wednesday.

Nxu, Inc. NXU shares were also up, gaining 51% to $0.0294 after the company signed a letter of intent outlining investment in Lynx Motors.

Equities Trading DOWN

Amtech Systems, Inc. ASYS shares dropped 28% to $4.28 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter sales results and issued first-quarter sales guidance below estimates.

Shares of NextCure, Inc. NXTC were down 28% to $1.0501 after the company issued year-end clinical pipeline updates.

Cepton, Inc. CPTN was down, falling 26% to $2.94 after the company posted downbeat third-quarter sales and issued weak FY23 revenue forecast. Craig-Hallum downgraded Cepton from Buy to Hold.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.1% to $71.59 while gold traded up 2.7% at $2,051.30.

Silver traded up 6.4% to $24.38 on Thursday while copper rose 2.9% to $3.8960.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.2%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.6% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1.1% The German DAX rose 0.7% French CAC 40 jumped 1.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.4%.

The ECB kept interest rates unchanged for the second straight meeting, while the Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate at 5.25% for the third straight time.

Spain's consumer price inflation fell to 3.2% year-over-year in November from 3.5% in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.73%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 1.07% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.33%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 1.3%.

Manufacturing production in Hong Kong rose 4.4% year-over-year in the third quarter compared to a revised 2.7% rise in the prior period. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) held its base rate at 5.75% at its recent meeting.
Indian wholesale prices rose by 0.26 percent year-over-year in November. Japan’s industrial production growth was revised higher to 1.3% month-over-month in October versus a flash reading of 1.0%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 202,000 in the week ending Dec. 9, well below market estimates of 220,000.

Export prices in the U.S. declined 0.9% month-over-month in November, while import prices declined by 0.4% in November.

Retail sales in the U.S. rose by 0.3% month-over-month in November following a revised 0.2% decline in October.

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