US Stocks Higher; Inflation Rate Increases To 3.4% In December

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 50 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.07% to 37,723.53 while the NASDAQ rose 0.46% to 15,039.09. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.21% to 4,793.32.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

 

Information technology shares rose by 0.8% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell by 0.6%.

 

Top Headline

 

U.S. consumer prices increased by 0.3% month-over-month in December compared to a 0.1% rise in November and versus market estimates of 0.2%.

The annual inflation rate rose to 3.4% in December versus a five-month low level of 3.1% in November, and compared to market estimates of 3.2%.

 

Equities Trading UP

 

Atreca, Inc. BCEL shares shot up 95% to $0.2090 after falling around 7% on Wednesday. Atreca, last month, announced the sale of a collection of antibody-related assets and materials to Immunome consisting of a $5.5 million upfront payment and up to $7.0 million in clinical development milestones.

Shares of Moolec Science SA MLEC got a boost, surging 35% to $2.5850.

Spectaire Holdings Inc. SPEC shares were also up, gaining 27% to $3.0873. Spectaire signed a distribution agreement with MLab and Mosolf to bring AireCore Emissions System in Europe.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

 

Clearmind Medicine Inc. CMND shares dropped 49% to $1.4799. Clearmind Medicine reported pricing of $2.4 million registered direct and private placement.

Shares of YanGuFang International Group Co., Ltd. YGF were down 36% to $1.1601. YanGuFang International named Ya Zhang Interim CEO and Yang Sui as Interim CFO, effective as of Jan. 9, 2024.

180 Life Sciences Corp. ATNF was down, falling 23% to $0.2330. 180 Life Sciences was granted EU patent titled "Method of Treating a Localized Fibrotic Disorder Using An Il-33 Antagonist."

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Commodities

 

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.4% to $72.40 while gold traded up 0.2% at $2,031.10.

Silver traded up 0.2% to $23.115 on Thursday while copper rose 0.5% to $3.7995.

 

Euro zone

 

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.4% The German DAX rose 0.3% French CAC 40 rose 0.3% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.4%.

Industrial production in Spain increased by 0.8% year-over-year in November, while Italy’s industrial production declined by 1.5% month-over-month in November.

 

Asia Pacific Markets

 

Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 1.27% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.31%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.1%.

China's vehicle sales jumped 23.5% year-over-year in December to 3.156 million units, following a 27.4% surge in November. The index of leading economic indicators in Japan fell to 107.7 in November versus a final reading of 108.9 in the earlier month, while index of coincident economic indicators fell to 114.5 in November compared to a final 115.9 a month ago. Reserve assets in Japan climbed to $1.295 trillion in December from $1.270 trillion a month ago, recording the highest level since July 2022.

 

Economics

 

U.S. consumer prices increased by 0.3% month-over-month in December compared to a 0.1% rise in November and versus market estimates of 0.2%.

The annual inflation rate rose to 3.4% in December versus a five-month low level of 3.1% in November, and compared to market estimates of 3.2%.

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 1,000 from the prior week’s revised reading of 202,000 in the period ending Jan, 6, compared to market expectations of 210,000.

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