Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; US Weekly Jobless Claims Fall To Lowest Level Since 1969

U.S. stocks opened on a strong note this morning.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.55% to 34,548.79 while the NASDAQ rose 0.13% to 13,940.68. The S&P also rose, gaining, 0.50% to 4,478.39.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares jumped by 1.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included MP Materials Corp. MP, up 9% and Aspen Aerogels, Inc. ASPN up 8%.

In trading on Thursday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 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

JX Luxventure Limited LLL shares shot up 44% to $4.86.

Shares of Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. DRTS got a boost, shooting 34% to $15.74.

Emclaire Financial Corp EMCF shares were also up, gaining 29% to $37.30 after the company and Farmers National Banc Corp. announced a merger.

Equities Trading DOWN

LiqTech International, Inc. LIQT shares tumbled 33% to $3.12 after reporting downbeat Q4 results.

Shares of Vicinity Motor Corp. VEV were down 27% to $2.42 after the company announced a $12 million direct registered offering.

Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc. ADN was down, falling 17% to $2.3550. Advent Technologies is expected to release its financial results for the fourth quarter on Monday, March 28, 2022.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.1% to $112.54, while gold traded up 1.1% to $1,958.80.

Silver traded up 3.1% Thursday to $25.975 while copper fell 0.2% to $4.7685.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.6%. The German DAX dropped 0.6%, French CAC 40 fell 0.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.1%.

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.

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

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for March will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

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

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Check out our premarket coverage here .

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.