US stocks were trading higher towards the end of trading, with the Dow Jones gaining more than 100 points on Thursday.
The Dow rose 0.35% to 33,863.38 while the NASDAQ rose 1.33% to 11,463.77. The S&P 500 was also up, gaining 0.75% to 4,046.34.
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Leading sectors and lagging sectors
- Energy stocks rose 2.6% on Thursday. Meanwhile, best earners in the industry included Murphy Oil Corporation MUR, up 6%, e Gran Tierra Energy Inc. GTE, up 8%.
- Consumer staples shares were down 0.1% in trading on Thursday.
Top title
The US economy grew about 2.9% from October to December, marking the second consecutive quarter of economic growth, a positive sign for broader markets. The number came in above economists’ expectations for a 2.6% increase.
US GDP grew 2.1% in 2022, compared with a 5.9% expansion in 2021.
US stock exchanges
- Qualtrics International Inc. XM shares rose 32% to $14.78 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and issued better-than-expected first-quarter revenue guidance.
- Shares of Worldwide acceptance company WRLD got a boost, rising 22% to $98.79 after the company reported third-quarter earnings results.
- Tesla, Inc. TSLA shares also rose, gaining 10% to $158.05 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. Vehicle production in the fourth quarter was 439,701 units, while deliveries were 405,278 EVs.
Stock trading DOWN
- Panbela Therapeutics, Inc. PBLA shares plunged 40% to $1.6179 after the company reported a $15 million public offering price at $2.75 per share.
- Shares of Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARDS fell 32% to $0.8390 after the company announced better results from its Phase 3 study AR-301-002, in which the primary endpoint was missed with statistical significance.
- Village Farms International, Inc. VFF fell, falling 36% to $0.9622 after the company announced a registered direct offering of about $25 million.
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Goods
In commodity news, oil rose 1.3% to $81.21, while gold fell 0.7% to $1,929.40.
Silver fell 0.4% to $24.025 on Wednesday, while copper was up 0.6% to $4.2690.
Eurozone
European equities were higher today. The euro zone’s STOXX 600 index rose 0.42%, London’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.21%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 index rose 0.87%. Germany’s DAX gained 0.34%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.74% and Italy’s FTSE MIB index rose 1.32%.
Labor productivity in the UK rose 0.1% quarter on quarter in the three months to September, while car production in the country fell 17.9% year on year in December.
Consumer confidence in Italy fell to 100.9 in January from an 11-month high of 102.5 the previous month, while producer confidence rose to 102.7 from 101.5. The Spanish unemployment rate rose to 12.87% in the fourth quarter from 12.67% in the previous period.
Asia Pacific markets
Asian markets finished mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shedding 0.12% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rising 2.37%.
Hong Kong’s trade deficit widened to $51.6 billion in December from $32.8 billion in the same period a year ago. Singapore’s manufacturing output fell 3.1% year on year in December.
Economy
- US GDP grew 2.1% in 2022, compared with a 5.9% expansion in 2021.
- The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to -0.49 in December from -0.51 the previous month.
- The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to $90.3 billion in December from a nearly two-year low of $82.9 billion a month ago.
- US durable goods orders increased 5.6% month over month in December.
- U.S. jobless claims decreased by 6,000 from the prior week to 186,000 in the week ending January 21, 2023.
- US building permits fell 1.0% from a month ago to an annualized rate of 1.337 million in December.
- Wholesale inventories increased 0.1% in December to a total of $934.1 billion.
- New home sales in the United States increased 2.3% month-on-month to an annualized rate of 616,000 in December.
- The Kansas City Fed’s manufacturing output index rose to -4 in January from a revised reading of -6 in the previous month.
- US natural gas supplies fell by 91 billion cubic feet last week, the EIA said.
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COVID-19 update
The United States has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 104,015,450 cases with approximately 1,130,960 deaths. India has confirmed a total of at least 44,682,330 cases and 530,730 deaths, while France has reported more than 39,498,180 cases of COVID-19 with 164,000 deaths. In total, there have been at least 674,133,160 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,752,550 deaths.
