Gold Gains 1%; Micron Posts Upbeat Results

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 100 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 0.84% to 39,844.27 while the NASDAQ rose 0.61% to 16,469.28. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.56% to 5,254.11.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrials shares jumped by 1% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, materials shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

Micron Technology, Inc. MU reported upbeat results for its second quarter and issued strong third-quarter guidance on Wednesday.

Micron reported first-quarter revenue of $5.82 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $5.342 billion. The company reported adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share, which easily beat analyst estimates for a loss of 25 cents per share, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Equities Trading UP

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. YTEN shares shot up 108% to $0.5046 after the company announced that the USDA-APHIS Biotechnology Regulatory Services determined that the Camelina sativa varieties may be planted and bred in the United States.

Shares of CuriosityStream Inc. CURI got a boost, surging 55% to $0.90 after the company reported financial results for fourth quarter.

Lufax Holding Ltd LU shares were also up, gaining 40% to $4.7306 following fourth-quarter results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Movella Holdings Inc. MVLA shares dropped 63% to $0.1051 after the company announced that it will voluntarily delist from the Nasdaq.

Shares of Apyx Medical Corporation APYX were down 27% to $1.3586 following soft FY24 guidance.

Spire Global, Inc. SPIR was down, falling 25% to $13.08 after the company announced a $30 million registered direct offering of 2,142,858 shares at $14.00 per share.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $80.95 while gold traded up 1.1% at $2,185.50.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $25.14 on Thursday, while copper rose 0.1% to $4.0555.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.65%, London’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.7% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1.49% The German DAX rose 0.43% French CAC 40 rose 0.02% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.06%.

The HCOB Eurozone manufacturing PMI declined to a three-month low level of 45.7 in March, while services PMI increased to 51.1 from 50.2. The Eurozone posted a current account surplus of €24.87 billion in January versus a year-ago deficit of €11.9 billion. Passenger car registrations in the European Union surged 10.1% year-over-year to 883.6 thousand units for February.

The HCOB Germany composite PMI climbed to 47.4 in March from 46.3 a month ago, while French composite PMI declined to 47.7 in March from 48.1 in February. The S&P Global UK services PMI fell to 53.4 in March from 53.8 in the previous month, while manufacturing PMI climbed to 49.9 in March from 47.5.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 surging 2.03%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 1.93%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.08% and India’s S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.75%.

The annual inflation rate in Hong Kong accelerated to 2.1% in February from January’s reading of 1.7%. Hong Kong's current account surplus increased to HKD 71.2 billion in the fourth quarter from HKD 55.9 billion in the year-ago period. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority kept its base rate unchanged at 5.75%.

The HSBC Flash India composite PMI increased to 61.4 in March versus a final reading of 60.6. The au Jibun Bank Japan composite PMI surged to 52.3 in March versus a final reading of 50.6 in February. Japan's trade deficit narrowed to JPY 379,358 billion in February from JPY 928.908 billion in the year-ago period.

Economics

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index in fell to 3.2 in March from 5.2 in the previous month.

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 2,000 to 210,000 on the week ending March 16, versus market estimates of 215,000.

The U.S. current account deficit shrank by $1.6 billion to $194.8 billion during the fourth quarter, compared to market estimates for a $209 billion gap.

The S&P Global services PMI declined to a three-month low level of 51.7 in March from 52.3 in the previous month.

The S&P Global manufacturing PMI climbed to a 21-month high level of 52.5 in March from 52.2 a month ago.

U.S. existing-home sales jumped 9.5% to an annualized rate of 4.38 million units in February.

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