Dow Dips Over 200 Points; First Financial Northwest Shares Spike Higher

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index falling over 200 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded down 0.56% to 37,483.91 while the NASDAQ fell 0.86% to 14,840.28. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.70% to 4,749.93.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 0.5% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell by 1.9%.

Top Headline

U.S. consumer prices increased by 0.3% month-over-month in December compared to a 0.1% rise in November and versus market estimates of 0.2%.

The annual inflation rate rose to 3.4% in December versus a five-month low level of 3.1% in November, and compared to market estimates of 3.2%.

Equities Trading UP

First Financial Northwest, Inc. FFNW shares shot up 49% to $20.33. Global Credit Union announced plans to acquire First Financial Northwest Bank for all-cash consideration of $231.2 million.

Shares of SEALSQ Corp LAES got a boost, surging 29% to $2.5250. SEALSQ announced that its FY23 revenue hit $30 million, a significant increase of 29% year-over-year, exceeding its Q3 outlook of growth in excess of 20%.

Transphorm, Inc. TGAN shares were also up, gaining 26% to $4.7650 after Renesas Electronics announced plans to acquire the company for $5.10 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Clearmind Medicine Inc. CMND shares dropped 40% to $1.77. Clearmind Medicine reported pricing of $2.4 million registered direct and private placement.

Shares of YanGuFang International Group Co., Ltd. YGF were down 24% to $1.3799. YanGuFang International named Ya Zhang AS Interim CEO and Yang Sui as Interim CFO, effective as of Jan. 9, 2024.

Office Properties Income Trust OPI was down, falling 38% to $3.8550 after the company reduced its quarterly dividend to $0.01 per share.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.7% to $73.27 while gold traded up 0.3% at $2,033.90.

Silver traded down 0.7% to $22.915 on Thursday while copper rose 0.1% to $3.7820.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.48%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.68% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.35% The German DAX fell 0.56% French CAC 40 fell 0.25% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.31%.

Industrial production in Spain increased by 0.8% year-over-year in November, while Italy’s industrial production declined by 1.5% month-over-month in November.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 1.27% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.31%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.1%.

China's vehicle sales jumped 23.5% year-over-year in December to 3.156 million units, following a 27.4% surge in November. The index of leading economic indicators in Japan fell to 107.7 in November versus a final reading of 108.9 in the earlier month, while index of coincident economic indicators fell to 114.5 in November compared to a final 115.9 a month ago. Reserve assets in Japan climbed to $1.295 trillion in December from $1.270 trillion a month ago, recording the highest level since July 2022.

Economics

U.S. consumer prices increased by 0.3% month-over-month in December compared to a 0.1% rise in November and versus market estimates of 0.2%.

The annual inflation rate rose to 3.4% in December versus a five-month low level of 3.1% in November, and compared to market estimates of 3.2%.

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 1,000 from the prior week’s revised reading of 202,000 in the period ending Jan, 6, compared to market expectations of 210,000.

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