Momentum in the Market
The sky is the limit for the Dow as it surged over 400 points on Thursday, lifting the spirits of investors everywhere. The Dow Jones index rocketed up by 1.13% to 39,048.47, while the NASDAQ experienced an astonishing 2.93% climb to reach 16,037.52. The S&P 500 didn’t miss out on the party either, joining the ranks with a 2.08% gain to close at 5,085.62
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Amidst the fanfare, the information technology sector stood tall, rising by 4%. However, the utilities shares weren’t as fortunate, falling by 0.4% in the trading session.
Top Headline
As the market roared, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. KDP wasn’t so lucky, with its shares tumbling over 3% after releasing its not-so-stellar fourth-quarter results. While the company’s fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of 55 cents slightly exceeded analyst expectations of 54 cents, its quarterly revenues of $3.867 billion marginally missed the street view of $3.914 billion.
Equities Trading UP
On a brighter note, La Rosa Holdings Corp. LRHC witnessed a stunning 101% increase, reaching $2.82, after revealing its acquisition of a 100% interest in the La Rosa Realty Winter Garden franchise in Florida. Additionally, Root, Inc. ROOT experienced a significant surge of 52% to hit $13.14 after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and receiving a bullish ratings upgrade. Likewise, Monopar Therapeutics Inc. MNPR saw its stocks rise by 67% to $0.9560 after announcing preclinical data for its MNPR-101 radiopharma program targeting advanced cancers.
Equities Trading DOWN
However, Draganfly Inc. DPRO wasn’t as fortunate, with shares plummeting 50% to $0.1792 after announcing the pricing of $3.6 million underwritten public offering. Greenbrook TMS Inc. GBNH followed suit, experiencing a painful 46% dip to $0.2079 after announcing a $1.2 million registered direct offering of 6 million shares at $0.20 per share purchase price. Meanwhile, Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN reported a wider-than-expected loss for its fourth quarter, resulting in a 26% fall to $11.39 and announced plans to diminish its salaried workforce by about 10% to aid in cost reduction as it set a production target of 57,000 vehicles in 2024.
Commodities
Turning to commodities, oil enjoyed a 1.1% upswing to reach $78.73, but gold experienced a slight 0.1% decline to end at $2,032.40. Meanwhile, silver dipped by 0.4% to $22.795, and copper managed a 0.5% rise to $3.8945 on Thursday.
Euro Zone
Across the pond, European shares rallied, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbing 0.82%, London’s FTSE 100 rising 0.29%, while Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC 40, and Italy’s FTSE MIB Indices all experienced impressive gains. However, the Eurozone’s inflation rate slightly slackened to 2.8% in January from 2.9% in December, while the HCOB Eurozone manufacturing PMI saw a decrease to 46.1 in February from 46.6 in January, albeit with a slight improvement in services PMI to 50 in February.
Asia Pacific Markets
As Asian markets drew to a close, Japan’s Nikkei 225 experienced a robust 2.19% surge, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index saw a notable 1.45% rise, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.27%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex jumped 0.74%. The annual inflation rate in Hong Kong saw a slight downtrend to 1.7% in January from 2.4% the prior month, signaling a cautious market atmosphere.
Economics
In economic news, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index stumbled to -0.30 in January versus a revised reading of 0.02 in the previous month. However, the U.S. initial jobless claims presented a more positive outlook, dropping by 12,000 to 201,000 in the week ending Feb. 17, compared to market estimates of 218,000.
