Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.11% to 30,375.25 while the NASDAQ fell 0.36% to 12,823.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11% to 3,727.86.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 19,745,880 cases with around 342,410 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,266,670 confirmed cases and 148,730 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,619,200 COVID-19 cases with 193,870 deaths. In total, there were at least 82,843,750 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,807,860 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Financial shares climbed 0.5% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included LendingClub Corporation LC, up 30%, and Bit Digital, Inc. BTBT, up 24%.
In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 0.9%.
Top Headline
US jobless claims fell to 787,000 in the week ended December 26, versus 803,000 in the prior week. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 833,000 for the week.
Equities Trading UP
Ashford Inc. AINC shares shot up 37% to $8.09 as CEO, COO and other officers reported grants of shares in form 4 filings on Wednesday.
Shares of AeroCentury Corp. ACY got a boost, shooting 87% to $12.78 after dropping 26% on Wednesday.
Intrepid Potash, Inc. IPI shares were also up, gaining 38% to $24.53 after the company issued updates on its potash and Trio pricing and its 2021 outlook. The company sees Q1 and FY 2021 water volumes in excess of same time last year.
Equities Trading DOWN
Professional Diversity Network, Inc. IPDN shares tumbled 20% to $2.1950. Professional Diversity Networks, on Wednesday, announced a partnership with Phala Network to develop a privacy protecting blockchain application.
Shares of Net Element, Inc. NETE were down 15% to $13.89. Net Element shares gained over 44% on Wednesday after the company's merger partner, Mullen Technologies, received a letter of intent for a purchase order of 1,500 MX-05 electric vehicles..
Orbital Energy Group, Inc. OEG was down, falling 16% to $1.97 after the company priced its 5.555 million share offering at $1.80 per share.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.5% to $48.16, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,898.60.
Silver traded down 0.4% Thursday to $26.48 while copper fell 0.7% to $3.5250.
Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.3%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.99%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 slipped 0.86% and London’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.45%
Economics
US jobless claims fell to 787,000 in the week ended December 26, versus 803,000 in the prior week. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 833,000 for the week.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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