U.S. stocks rallied strongly toward the end of trading on Thursday. The Dow Jones index surged over 250 points, signaling a day of bullish sentiment in the market.
The Dow traded up 0.75% to 38,713.88, where the NASDAQ also saw a positive climb, rising by 0.22% to 15,894.39. The S&P 500 also joined the party, gaining a welcome 0.52% to land at 5,026.65.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday saw a strong surge in energy shares, rising by 2%, while the information technology sector fell by 0.6% during trading.
Top Headline
Exciting news reverberated throughout the market as shares of US Foods Holding Corp. (USFD) gained around 3% on the back of better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue results. The company also issued FY24 net sales guidance above estimates, sparking positive investor sentiment.
US Foods reported fourth-quarter revenue of $8.936 billion, surpassing the street view of $8.791 billion. Net sales showed a robust 4.9% year-over-year increase. Moreover, the quarterly adjusted diluted earnings per share increased by an impressive 16.4% to 64 cents, although missing the street projection of 67 cents.
Looking ahead to FY24, the company is anticipating net sales of $37.5 billion to $38.5 billion (estimate: $37.32 billion), with adjusted EPS expected to range between $3.00 and $3.20 (estimate: $3.23).
Equities Trading UP
In an eventful trading session, JX Luxventure Limited (JXJT) saw its shares skyrocket by a remarkable 152% to $3.28 following promising H1 results.
Additionally, shares of SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN) surged by an impressive 64% to $3.6899, propelled by the news of AI giant Nvidia’s stake in the company. Meanwhile, Nano-X Imaging Ltd. (NNOX) shares also experienced a significant uptick, gaining 54% to $9.82, after Nvidia reported a 59,632 share stake in Nano X Imaging.
Equities Trading DOWN
On the flip side, Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) witnessed a notable 32% drop in its shares, falling to $8.02 following the release of weak quarterly earnings. Similarly, shares of Treasure Global Inc. (TGL) were down 43% to $0.0896 after second-quarter results, and Renalytix Plc (RNLX) also faced a downturn, falling 35% to $0.7871 after posting weak quarterly sales.
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Commodities
In the commodities arena, oil showed a notable 1.9% increase, reaching $78.10, while gold also displayed a positive trend with a 0.5% rise to $2,014.00. Silver wasn’t far behind, trading up 2.3% to $22.90 on Thursday, along with copper, which rose by 1.4% to $3.7530.
Euro zone
Across the pond, European shares ended the day on a high note. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 marked a gain of 0.68%, London’s FTSE 100 rose by 0.38%, Spain’s IBEX 35 Index registered a 0.11% increase, and the German DAX surged by 0.60%. Similarly, the French CAC 40 and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index both contributed to the positive atmosphere, rising by 0.86% and 1.17% respectively.
Economic indicators also brought some encouraging news with the Eurozone recording a trade surplus of €16.8 billion in December versus a year-ago deficit of €8.5 billion. Italy reported a trade surplus of EUR 5.61 billion in December, and Spain’s consumer price inflation rose to a three-month high of 3.4% year-over-year in January.
The UK, meanwhile, displayed a mixed economic performance, with the economy expanding by 0.1% in 2023, recording the weakest performance since 2020. Labor productivity in the UK, however, declined by 1.0% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter, while industrial production showed a promising 0.6% month-over-month increase in December. Notably, the UK’s trade deficit shrank to £2.603 billion in December from a revised £3.723 billion a month ago.
Asia Pacific Markets
Across Asia, markets displayed an upbeat mood as Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.21%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 0.41%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index registered a solid 1.28% gain, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex followed suit with a 0.32% upswing.
In economic news, India reported a trade deficit of $17.5 billion in January versus a year-ago gap of $17.03 billion. Total passenger vehicle sales in the country also rose by 13.9% year-over-year to 339,441 for January. Japan’s industrial production growth was revised lower to 1.4% month-over-month compared to a flash reading of a 1.8% increase. Additionally, the country’s economy contracted by 0.4% on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter.
Economics
Economic indicators in the U.S. brought some mixed data – the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index rose to -2.4 in February from -43.7 in the prior month, while the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index increased by 16 points to a reading of 5.2 in February, outperforming market expectations.
Additional economic highlights included a rise of 0.8% month-over-month in U.S. export prices for January, along with a corresponding increase of 0.8% in import prices. Initial jobless claims also saw a decline of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised reading to 212,000 during the period ending Feb. 9, 2024, versus market expectations of 220,000.
The U.S. retail sales, however, took a hit, falling 0.8% month-over-month in January compared to a revised 0.4% increase in December, and industrial production also declined by 0.1% from the prior month in January. Meanwhile, total business inventories in the U.S. increased by 0.4% month-over-month in December.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index brought a glimmer of positivity, rising to 48 in February, marking the highest level in six months, while U.S. natural-gas supplies fell by 49 billion cubic feet during the week ended Feb. 9, 2024.
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