US Stocks Higher; Producer Prices Rise 0.6% In February

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

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.11% to 39,084.58 while the NASDAQ rose 0.30% to 16,226.13. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.14% to 5,172.33.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped by 0.4% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell by 0.6%.

Top Headline

The Producer Price Index for final demand in the U.S. increased by 0.6% month-over-month in February, higher than market expectations of a 0.3% rise.

Equities Trading UP

Presto Automation Inc. PRST shares shot up 77% to $0.3987 after jumping 15% on Wednesday.

Shares of Aptorum Group Limited APM got a boost, surging 69% to $7.30.

WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc. WIMI shares were also up, gaining 35% to $1.49.

Equities Trading DOWN

Spruce Biosciences, Inc. SPRB shares dropped 78% to $1.1496 after the company reported FY23 financial results. Also, the company announced that the CAHmedlia-203 study of Tildacerfont in adult classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia with severe hyperandrogenemia did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint.

Shares of Fisker Inc. FSR were down 50% to $0.1620 following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting the company is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing.

Immuneering Corporation IMRX was down, falling 27% to $4.2825 after the company announced topline results from Phase 1 portion of its Phase 1/2a clinical trial of IMM-1-104 in RAS-mutant solid tumors.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.2% to $80.66 while gold traded down 0.5% at $2,169.10.

Silver traded up 0.5% to $25.285 on Thursday, while copper fell 0.3% to $4.0485.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.3% The German DAX gained 0.1% French CAC 40 rose 0.6% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.2%.

Spain’s annual inflation rate eased to 2.8% in February, the lowest in six months, compared to 3.4% in January.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.29%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.71%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.18% and India’s S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.5%.

Manufacturing production in Hong Kong rose 4.1% year-over-year in the fourth quarter compared to a revised 4.3% gain in the prior period. Indian wholesale prices rose by 0.20% year-over-year in February versus a 0.27% increase in the earlier month.

Economics

The Producer Price Index for final demand in the U.S. increased by 0.6% month-over-month in February, higher than market expectations of a 0.3% rise.

U.S. retail sales increased 0.6% month-over-month in February compared to a revised 1.1% decline in January and down from market estimates of a 0.8% surge.

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 1,000 to 209,000 in the week ended March 8, compared to market estimates of 218,000.

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