Dow Edges Higher; US Weekly Jobless Claims Increase

U.S. stocks traded slightly higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 0.2% on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.03% to 44,887.97 while the NASDAQ rose 0.20% to 19,731.74. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.20% to 6,073.57.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares surged by 0.6% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell by 0.5%.

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 11,000 from the previous week to 219,000 in the final week of January, compared to market estimates of 213,000.

Equities Trading UP

Lipella Pharmaceuticals Inc. LIPO shares shot up 96% to $5.15 after the company received FDA approval for an expanded access program for LP-310 in oral lichen planus.
Shares of Quantum BioPharma Ltd. QNTMgot a boost, surging 83% to $15.72. Quantum Biopharma licensee Celly Nutrition retained leading New York Investment Bank to advise on capital raise and possible initial public offering following highly positive results from unbuzzd™ clinical study.
Digital Turbine, Inc. APPS shares were also up, gaining 63% to $4.1285 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and raised its FY25 sales guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. RETO shares dropped 41% to $0.4854. ReTo Eco-Solutions recently announced the receipt of Nasdaq delisting determination.
Shares of Sensus Healthcare, Inc. SRTS were down 31% to $6.20 after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results.
Avinger, Inc. AVGR was down, falling 31% to $0.3893.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.6% to $71.45 while gold traded down 0.4% at $2,880.90.

Silver traded down 1.6% to $32.440 on Thursday, while copper rose 0.1% to $4.4450.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.7%, Germany's DAX 40 gained 0.8% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.9%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.8%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 1.6%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.61%, China's Shanghai Composite Index climbing 1.27%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 1.43% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.27%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 11,000 from the previous week to 219,000 in the final week of January, compared to market estimates of 213,000.
U.S. unit labor costs rose 3.0% in the fourth quarter following a 0.5% gain in the third quarter.
U.S. nonfarm business sector labor productivity rose by 1.2% in the fourth quarter compared to a revised gain of 2.3% in the previous quarter.
U.S. employers announced job cuts of 49,795 in January up from 38,792 in the previous month.

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