Towards the end of Thursday’s trading session, U.S. stocks surged, with the Dow Jones index gaining over 100 points.
The Dow increased by 0.35% to 37,398.50, while the NASDAQ soared 1.16% to 15,027.63. The S&P 500 also experienced a rise, gaining 0.67% to 4,770.73.
Check This Out: Alphabet, Electronic Arts And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling
Fluctuating Sectors
Information technology shares rallied, rising by 2% on Thursday.
Conversely, in Thursday’s trading, health care shares declined by 1.1%.
M&T Bank Falters in Q4 Earnings
M&T Bank Corporation MTB reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter on Thursday.
M&T Bank posted quarterly earnings of $2.81 per share, missing market estimates of $3.49 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $2.30 billion versus expectations of $2.28 billion.
Rising Stocks
Agrify Corporation AGFY shares surged by 18% to $1.3897 after the company announced a multi-million dollar sales agreement with Ocean Deep/Golden Lake Business Park.
Shares of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. MDC skyrocketed by 18% to $62.83 following the company’s announcement of its acquisition by Sekisui House.
LiveRamp Holdings, Inc. RAMP also saw a 9% increase to $40.08 after entering into an agreement to acquire Habu for about $200 million. Additionally, Benchmark raised its price target from $44 to $51 on the stock.
Declining Stocks
Aravive, Inc. ARAV shares plummeted by 45% to $0.0606. Aravive expressed its intent to voluntarily terminate the listing of its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Shares of Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PCSA decreased by 28% to $0.1989. Processa Pharmaceuticals stated it would effect a 1-for-20 reverse stock split.
eHealth, Inc. EHTH experienced a 19% decline to $5.70. Craig-Hallum analyst George Sutton downgraded eHealth from Buy to Hold.
Also Check This Out: How To Earn $500 A Month From Microsoft Stock Ahead Of Q2 Earnings Report
Commodity Market Update
In commodity news, oil rose by 2.2% to $74.17 while gold escalated by 0.6% to $2,018.10.
Silver ticked up by 0.6% to $22.80 on Thursday, and copper surged by 0.4% to $3.7490.
European Markets Update
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.59%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.17%, and Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.13%. The German DAX gained 0.83% and the French CAC 40 rose 1.13%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.84%.
Construction output in the Eurozone fell by 2.2% year-over-year in November, while the current account surplus rose to EUR 31.7 billion in November versus a revised EUR 6.6 billion in the year-ago period. Passenger car registrations in the European Union declined by 3.3% year-over-year to 867.1 thousand units in December.
Asia Pacific Markets Snapshot
Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.03%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.75%, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index advancing by 0.43%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, fell by 0.44%.
Hong Kong’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.9% in the three months ending December. Industrial production in Japan declined by 0.9% from a month ago in November, while Japan’s core machinery orders decreased by 4.9% month-over-month in November.
Current Economic Indicators
The week ending January 18 saw U.S. initial jobless claims dip by 16,000 to 187,000, compared to market estimates of 207,000.
The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rose by 2.2 points to a reading of -10.6 in January from -12.8 a month ago, versus market estimates of -7.
Housing starts fell by 4.3% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 1.46 million in December, while building permits increased by 1.9% to an annual rate of 1.495 million in December.
The EIA reported a 2.492 million-barrel decline in crude oil inventories in the U.S. for the week ending Jan. 12, 2024, compared to market estimates of a 0.313 million-barrel decline.
U.S. natural-gas supplies fell by 154 billion cubic feet during the week ended Jan. 12, 2024, according to the EIA.
Now Read This: Apple To Rally Over 23%? Here Are 10 Top Analyst Forecasts For Thursday
