US Stocks Higher; Payrolls Increase By 216,000 In December

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, following the release of jobs data on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.08% to 37,470.26 while the NASDAQ rose 0.20% to 14,539.40. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.21% to 4,698.40.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 0.5% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, real estate shares fell by 0.4%.

Top Headline

The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December versus a revised 173,000 in November, and compared to market estimates of 170,000. The unemployment rate in the U.S. came in unchanged at 3.7% in December, compared to market estimates of 3.8%.

Equities Trading UP

Ainos, Inc. AIMD shares shot up 112% to $3.6706 after falling more than 12% on Thursday.

Shares of Banzai International, Inc. BNZI got a boost, surging 86% to $3.09. Banzai International signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire IGLeads, a cutting-edge automated lead generation platform.

Revelstone Capital Acquisition Corp. RCAC shares were also up, gaining 88% to $10.65. Revelstone Capital Acquisition cancelled special meeting to approve business combination with Set Jet, Inc.

Equities Trading DOWN

Applied Therapeutics, Inc. APLT shares dropped 33% to $2.5250 after reporting topline results from ARISE-HF Phase 3 study of AT-001 in diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Shares of agilon health, inc. AGL were down 33% to $8.11 after the company lowered its 2023 financial outlook.

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. MPW was down, falling 31% to $3.4750 after it disclosed plans to reduce its exposure to tenant Steward Health Care System. Keybanc analyst Austin Wurschmidt downgraded Medical Properties Trust from Overweight to Sector Weight.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.2% to $73.78 while gold traded up 0.2% at $2,053.70.

Silver traded up 0.4% to $23.285 on Friday while copper fell 0.1% to $3.8435.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.7%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.6% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.6% The German DAX fell 0.5% French CAC 40 fell 0.8% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.3%.

Industrial producer prices in the Eurozone declined 8.8% year-over-year in November versus a 9.4% decline a month ago. The inflation rate in the Eurozone increased to 2.9% year-over-year in December versus an over two-year low level of 2.4% in November. The HCOB Eurozone Construction PMI rose to 43.6 in December versus 43.4 a month ago.

The S&P Global UK construction PMI rose to 46.8 in December from 45.5 in November, while Halifax House Price Index increased by 1.7% year-over-year in December. French construction PMI declined to 42.6 in December from 44.6 in November, while HCOB Germany construction PMI rose to 37 in December from 36.2 in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.27%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.66% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.85%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.25%.

Foreign exchange reserves in Hong Kong rose to $425.5 billion in December versus a seven-month high level of $424.6 billion a month ago. The S&P Global Indian services PMI climbed to 59.0 in December versus 56.9 a month ago. The consumer confidence index in Japan climbed to 37.2 in December from 36.1 in the previous month, while Japanese services PMI was revised lower to 51.5 in December versus preliminary reading of 52.0.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December versus a revised 173,000 in November, and compared to market estimates of 170,000.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. came in unchanged at 3.7% in December, compared to market estimates of 3.8%.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on US private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.4% over a month to $34.27 for December.

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