Mid-Morning Market Update: US Stocks Lower As Inflation Rate Accelerates to 7.5% In January

US stocks opened on a downbeat note this morning following the release of inflation data. The annual inflation rate in the US increased to 7.5% in January, the highest level since February 1982 and well above analysts' estimates of 7.3%.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.42% to 35,617.48 while the NASDAQ fell 1.22% to 14,313.41. The S&P also fell, dropping, 0.78% to 4,551.43.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped by 1.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Peabody Energy Corporation BTU, up 15% and Evolution Petroleum Corporation EPM up 7%.

In trading on Thursday, information technology shares fell by 1.4%.

Top Headline

The Coca-Cola Company KO reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Coca-Cola reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.45 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.41 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $9.50 billion, versus expectations of $8.96 billion.

Coca-Cola said it sees FY22 organic sales growth of 7% to 8% year over year.

Equities Trading UP

American Rebel Holdings, Inc. AREB shares shot up 65% to $3.55 following the company's recent uplisting to the Nasdaq.

Shares of Anghami Inc. ANGH got a boost, shooting 40% to $15.73 amid continued volatility following its recent listing on Nasdaq.

IronNet, Inc. IRNT shares were also up, gaining 31% to $4.60 after the company announced an agreement with a Gulf Cooperation Council country to provide collective defense for critical national infrastructure.

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Equities Trading DOWN

Quantum Corporation QMCO shares tumbled 41% to $2.9099 after the company reported mixed Q3 earnings results and issued Q4 EPS and sales guidance below estimates. Oppenheimer downgraded Quantum from Outperform to Perform, while B. Riley Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.

Shares of 2U, Inc. TWOU were down 41% to $10.65 after the company reported Q4 earnings results and issued FY22 revenue guidance. Berenberg and William Blair downgraded the stock.

EMCORE Corporation EMKR was down, falling 29% to $4.21 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 EPS results and issued Q2 sales guidance below estimates. Lake Street downgraded EMCORE from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $11 to $4.5.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.2% to $90.73, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,832.50.

Silver traded up 0.4% Thursday to $23.435 while copper rose 1.6% to $4.6765.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.5%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.1%. The German DAX fell 0.1%, French CAC 40 dipped 0.8% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.2%.

Economics

The annual inflation rate in the US increased to 7.5% in January, the highest level since February 1982 and well above analysts' estimates of 7.3%.

U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 223,000 in the week ended February 5th.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 30-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget statement for January will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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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 78,824,390 cases with around 935,920 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 42,478,060 cases and 506,540 deaths, while Brazil reported over 26,960,150 COVID-19 cases with 635,180 deaths. In total, there were at least 404,004,730 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,797,480 deaths.