Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; US Initial Jobless Claims Drop To 52-Year Low

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.22% to 35,676.45 while the NASDAQ fell 0.30% to 15,740.38. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21% to 4,691.18.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 50,422,410 cases with around 813,900 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,666,240 cases and 474,110 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,167,780 COVID-19 cases with 616,290 deaths. In total, there were at least 268,226,410 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,298,080 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares climbed 0.2% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ambrx Biopharma Inc. AMAM, up 13% and Longeveron Inc. LGVN up 6%.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 1.1%.

Top Headline

US initial jobless claims fell by 43,000 to 184,000 in the week ending December 4th, notching the lowest level since September 1969. Analysts were expecting a reading of 215,000 for the latest week.

Equities Trading UP

Inspira Technologies Oxy B.H.N. Ltd. IINN shares shot up 85% to $4.98 after the company signed an exclusive summary distribution agreement with Innovimed Sp. z o.o, a master distributor specializing in medical solutions in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Shares of Boxed, Inc. BOXD got a boost, shooting 52% to $13.81 after the company said it will further integrate with Google Cloud to power global platform technology solutions.

Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. ENSC shares were also up, gaining 60% to $4.7801. Zacks Small-Cap Research gave the stock $23 price valuation on Tuesday.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Renren Inc. RENN shares tumbled 51% to $12.83. Renren will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on December 17, 2021.

Shares of Tecnoglass Inc. TGLS were down 42% to $19.65 after Hindenburg Research issued a bearish report on the company.

Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RETA was down, falling 38% to $33.72. The FDA's Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted that the agency should not approve Reata Pharmaceuticals’ bardoxolone methyl capsules to slow the progression of chronic kidney disease in those with the rare Alport syndrome. Goldman Sachs downgraded Reata Pharmaceuticals from Buy to Neutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $71.74, while gold traded down 0.5% to $1,775.80.

Silver traded down 2.2% Thursday to $21.935 while copper fell 1.9% to $4.3115.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.2%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2%, French CAC 40 fell 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.2%.

German trade surplus shrank to EUR 12.8 billion in October from EUR 19.7 billion in the year-ago period. Imports climbed 17.3% to a record high of EUR 108.5 billion. Germany's current account surplus narrowed to EUR 15.4 billion in October from EUR 24.4 billion.

Economics

US initial jobless claims fell by 43,000 to 184,000 in the week ending December 4th, notching the lowest level since September 1969. Analysts were expecting a reading of 215,000 for the latest week.

Wholesale inventories rose 2.3% to $759.4 billion in October.

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.

Check out the full economic calendar here