U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 200 points on Thursday.
Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.73% to 53,446.86 while the NASDAQ gained 0.81% to 26,429.00. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.61% to 7,713.26.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communications services shares jumped by 2% on Thursday.
In trading on Thursday, energy stocks fell by 0.2%.
Top Headline
U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 206,000 during the fourth week of August, compared to market estimates of 205,000.
Equities Trading UP
- Mint Incorporation Ltd (NASDAQ:MIMI) shares shot up 67% to $1.08 after the company announced a consulting agreement with CURRENC Capital to tokenize a portion of Class A ordinary shares on Ethereum and Solana.
- Shares of Gelteq Ltd (NASDAQ:GELS) got a boost, surging 44% to $1.00 after jumping over 30% on Wednesday.
- Tillys Inc (NYSE:TLYS) shares were also up, gaining 41% to $5.43 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter guidance above estimates.
Equities Trading DOWN
- Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ:RARE) shares dropped 47% to $14.08 fter reporting late-stage clinical trial failures for its Angelman syndrome therapy, apazunersen, prompting the biopharmaceutical firm to review the program’s future and plan significant corporate expense reductions.
- Shares of Gix Internet Ltd (NASDAQ:GIXI) were down 36% to $7.73 after jumping 41% on Wednesday.
- Medicus Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:MDCX) was down, falling 30% to $0.1809 after the company announced co-development and license agreement with Pfizer for CD228-targeting ADC PF-08046031.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $91.70 while gold traded up 2.9% at $4,541.20.
Silver traded up 2.7% to $67.19 on Thursday, while copper rose 1.1% to $6.6645.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.7%, London’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.7%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.3%, while France’s CAC 40 fell 0.2%.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly lower on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.17%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declining 0.39%, China’s Shanghai Composite gaining 0.02% and India’s BSE Sensex falling 0.55%.
Economics
- U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 206,000 during the fourth week of August, compared to market estimates of 205,000.
- The U.S. trade deficit rose to $88.6 billion in July from a $71.1 billion gap in June and compared to market estimates of a $90 billion deficit.
- U.S. nonfarm business-sector labor productivity increased 1.4% in the second quarter, compared to a 0.8% gain in the first quarter.
- Unit labor costs rose 1.2% in the second quarter of, versus a 1.3% increase in the previous quarter.
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