U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining over 350 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 0.91% to 40,215.50 while the NASDAQ rose 0.59% to 17,444.67. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.57% to 5,458.21.

Check This Out: Jim Cramer: This Tech Stock Is ‘Absolutely Terrific,’ But Jumia? It’s Not Making A Lot Of Money

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrials shares jumped by 1.8% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE:NOC) reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised its guidance.

Northrop Grumman reported second-quarter fiscal 2024 sales growth of 7% year-over-year to $10.218 billion, beating the consensus of $10.018 billion. Second-quarter EPS was $6.36 compared to $5.34 a year ago, beating the consensus of $5.92.

For fiscal 2024, Northrop Grumman now expects sales of $41 billion-$41.4 billion (from $40.8 billion – $41.2 billion) versus the consensus of $41.139 billion.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Goosehead Insurance, Inc (NASDAQ:GSHD) shares shot up 29% to $84.82 following upbeat second-quarter results.
• Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) got a boost, surging 15% to $331.04 following better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
• Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shares were also up, gaining 30% to $65.44 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter EPS results. The company also announced the advancement of VK2735 to Phase 3.

Equities Trading DOWN

Also Check This Out: Top 3 Defensive Stocks That Are Ticking Portfolio Bombs

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $78.32 while gold traded down 2.5% at $2,354.80.

Silver traded down 4.6% to $27.955 on Thursday, while copper rose 0.3% to $4.1215.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.72%, Germany's DAX fell 0.48% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.15%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.58%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.40%.

Bank lending to households in the Eurozone rose by 0.3% year-over-year to €6.879 trillion in June. The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany fell for a third straight month to a reading of 87 in July from 88.6 in June. The manufacturing climate indicator in France declined to 95.5 in July from 98.9 in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 3.28%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.77%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.52% and India's S&P BSE Sensex declining 0.14%.

Imports to Hong Kong climbed 9% year-over-year to $429.2 billion, while exports from Hong Kong gained 10.7% to $373.5 billion in June. The People's Bank of China cut its one-year policy loan rate.

Economics

Now Read This:

• Wall Street’s Most Accurate Analysts Weigh In On 3 Energy Stocks With Over 6% Dividend Yields