U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones jumping 250 points on Thursday.
The Dow traded up 0.75% to 34,617.38 while the NASDAQ rose 1.08% to 14,072.31. The S&P also rose, gaining, 1% to 4,500.66.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Materials shares jumped by 1.9% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. (NYSE:IDR), up 20% and MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) up 10%.
In trading on Thursday, consumer discretionary shares rose by just 0.2%.
Top Headline
US initial jobless claims dropped by 28 thousand to 187 thousand in the week ended March 19th, versus a revised 215 thousand in the prior period and versus market estimates of 212 thousand. Weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level since September 6, 1969.
Equities Trading UP
Evelo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVLO) shares shot up 20% to $3.91 following Q4 results.
Shares of Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:APVO) got a boost, shooting 26% to $6.61 after the company reported FY21 financial results.
Emclaire Financial Corp (NASDAQ:EMCF) shares were also up, gaining 33% to $38.45 after the company and Farmers National Banc Corp. announced a merger.
Equities Trading DOWN
LiqTech International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIQT) shares tumbled 36% to $2.9917 after reporting downbeat Q4 results.
Shares of Vicinity Motor Corp. (NASDAQ:VEV) were down 26% to $2.44 after the company announced a $12 million direct registered offering.
Traeger, Inc. (NYSE:COOK) was down, falling 14% to $7.59 after the company reported Q4 earnings results. Jefferies downgraded Traeger from Buy to Hold and announced a $7 price target.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.6% to $113.07, while gold traded up 1.3% to $1,961.90.
Silver traded up 3% Thursday to $25.955 while copper fell 0.2% to $4.7690.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.18%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.35%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.09%. The German DAX gained 0.45%, French CAC 40 rose 0.19% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.03%.
The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing PMI declined to 57 in March from 58.2 in February. The IHS Markit French composite PMI climbed to 56.2 in March from 55.5 in February, while German composite PMI slipped to 54.6 in March from 55.6 in February. The manufacturing climate indicator in France fell to a 11-month low level of 106 in March.
Economics
US durable goods orders fell 2.2% month-over-month in February.
US initial jobless claims dropped by 28 thousand to 187 thousand in the week ended March 19th, versus a revised 215 thousand in the prior period and versus market estimates of 212 thousand. Weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level since September 6, 1969.
The current account deficit narrowed to $217.9 billion in the fourth quarter from a revised $219.9 billion in the previous period.
The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI rose to 58.5 in March from 57.3 in February, while services PMI climbed to 58.9 in March from 56.5.
US natural-gas supplies dropped 51 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.
The Kansas City Fed's Manufacturing Production Index climbed to 46 in March, recording the highest level on record.
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COVID-19 Update
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 81,527,320 cases with around 1,001,170 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,014,680 cases and 516,700 deaths, while Brazil reported over 29,729,990 COVID-19 cases with 658,060 deaths. In total, there were at least 476,666,310 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,129,160 deaths.
