US Stocks Higher; Producer Prices Fall In December

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

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.08% to 37,739.53 while the NASDAQ rose 0.49% to 15,042.81. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.40% to 4,799.13.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped by 1.4% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares rose by just 0.01%.

Top Headline

Producer prices in the U.S. fell 0.1% month-over-month in December, the same as in the prior month, and compared to market estimates of a 0.1% rise.

Equities Trading UP

Charge Enterprises, Inc. CRGE shares shot up 81% to $0.1469 after falling 9% on Thursday.

Shares of Spectral AI, Inc. MDAI got a boost, surging 28% to $3.2600. Spectral AI started enrollment in pivotal study to validate DeepView AI for burn injuries.

Volcon, Inc. VLCN shares were also up, gaining 39% to $0.1375 after gaining over 11% on Thursday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Genius Group Limited GNS shares dropped 49% to $0.2624 after the company announced pricing of an $8.25 million public offering.

Shares of VCI Global Limited VCIG were down 37% to $0.9901 after the company announced pricing of a $2.75 million public offering.

SEALSQ Corp LAES was down, falling 32% to $2.1450 after jumping 62% on Thursday. SEALSQ announced closing of the second $10.0 million tranche of convertible notes and warrants private placement.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.8% to $74.09 while gold traded up 1.9% at $2,058.00.

Silver traded up 3% to $23.39 on Friday while copper rose 0.2% to $3.7850.

Euro zone

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

Spain's consumer price inflation eased to 3.1% year-over-year in December from 3.2% in the earlier month. Household spending in France increased by 0.7% from a month ago in November.

The British economy grew by 0.3% month-over-month in November compared to a 0.3% decline in the prior month. Industrial production in the UK increased 0.3% month-over-month in November versus a revised 1.3% decline in October The UK's trade deficit shrank to £1.408 billion in November from a revised gap of £3.198 billion a month ago.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.50%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.35% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.16%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 1.16%.

The gauge for Japan's service sector confidence rose by 1.2 points to a reading of 50.7 in December, while Japan’s current account rose to JPY 1,925.6 billion in November versus JPY 1,772.2 billion in the year-ago period.

China's trade surplus widened to $75.34 billion in December from $70.65 billion in the year-ago month. China's producer prices fell by 2.7% year-over-year in December, while consumer prices fell by 0.3% year-over-year in December.

Economics

Producer prices in the U.S. fell 0.1% month-over-month in December, the same as in the prior month, and compared to market estimates of a 0.1% rise.

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