US Stocks Higher, NASDAQ Adds Over 230 Points

US stocks traded higher this morning, with the NASDAQ gaining more than 230 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.02% to 34,092.96, while the NASDAQ rose 2.00% to 11,816.32. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining 1.05% to 4,119.21.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose by 1.21%. while industrials fell by 1.16%.

Top Headline

Merck & Co Inc MRK reported its fourth quarter and full-year results, reflecting strong revenue growth.

The pharma company reported global sales of $13.8 billion for the quarter, representing 2% year-on-year growth. Excluding the impact of foreign currency conversion rates, the growth was 8%. Full-Year global sales came in at $59.3 billion, up 22% from 2021.

Merck announced GAAP earnings from continuing operations of $1.18 per share for the full year and $1.62 per share for the latest quarter. Management guided to 2023 GAAP earnings of $5.86-$6.01 per share.

Equities Trading UP

• Carvana Co. CVNA shares shot up 32.84% to $13.51 and hit the circuit breaker.
• Shares of Tyra Biosciences Inc. TYRA rose 28.06% to $13.6.
• Veritone Inc. VERI shares were also up, gaining 18.1% to $9.98, after JMP Securities analysts reiterated a Market Outperform rating and price target of $11.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings Inc. BAER shares tumbled 23.66% to $6.085 for a second day in a row after the closure of merger agreement with Jack Creek Investment Corp on Tuesday.
• Lanvin Group Holdings Ltd. LANV were down 21.92% to $6.13, with Shang Koo set to resign as the company’s CFO.
• Westrock Co. WRK was down, falling 12.59% to $34.3 after the company reported a 0.6% year-on-year decline in its fiscal first quarter sales on Wednesday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.50% to $76.03, while gold traded up 1.31% at $ 1,968.20.

Silver traded up 3.69% to $24.480 on Thursday.

Euro zone

European shares rose today. The Eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.90%, London’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.82% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1.85%. The German DAX gained 1.52%, French CAC 40 rose 0.59% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index traded 1.18% higher.

The Euro area inflation rate hit an eight-month low of 8.5% in January 2023 while the unemployment rate remained stable in December compared to November 2022. The Netherland’s annual inflation rate eased to 7.6%. Nationwide housing price index increased by 1.1% y-o-y in January 2023, in the UK.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.20% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index losing 0.52%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.38% after the Union budget on Wednesday.

The trade deficit in South Korea rose to $12.69 billion in January 2023. The S&P Global Thailand Manufacturing PMI registered a thirteenth straight month of growth to 54.5 in January 2023. The Indian S&P Global India Manufacturing PMI dropped to a three-month low of 55.4 last month.

Economics

The MBA Purchase Index fell 10.3% to 184.30 points in the US in the week ending on January 27th 2023. Factory activity declined for a third straight month in January 2023, as indicated by the S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI, which was revised slightly higher to 46.9.

The seasonally adjusted business confidence in Mexico rose to 49.8, in January 2023.

The S&P Global Brazil Manufacturing PMI recovered from an over two year low and rose to 47.5 January 2023.