U.S. stocks displayed a slight downtrend toward the end of the trading session, with the Dow Jones index dipping around 20 points on Thursday.
The Dow traded down 0.05% to 37,675 while the NASDAQ fell 0.05% to 14,962.80. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.11% to 4,778.06.
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Energy Sector Climbs
Energy shares climbed by 0.1% on Thursday.
On the flip side, utilities shares experienced a decline of 2.3%.
U.S. natural-gas supplies fell 140 billion cubic feet during the week ended Jan. 5, 2024, the EIA said.
Equities That Spiked
First Financial Northwest, Inc. FFNW shares shot up 48% to $20.20. Global Credit Union announced plans to acquire First Financial Northwest Bank for all-cash consideration of $231.2 million.
Shares of SEALSQ Corp LAES skyrocketed by 51% to $2.9499. SEALSQ announced that its FY23 revenue hit $30 million, a significant increase of 29% year-over-year, exceeding its Q3 outlook of growth in excess of 20%.
Transphorm, Inc. TGAN shares also saw a rise, gaining 25% to $4.75 after Renesas Electronics announced plans to acquire the company for $5.10 per share in cash.
Equities That Tumbled
Clearmind Medicine Inc. CMND shares plummeted 41% to $1.7275. Clearmind Medicine reported pricing of $2.4 million registered direct and private placement.
Shares of Richardson Electronics, Ltd. RELL were down 21% to $9.87 after the company posted weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter.
Office Properties Income Trust OPI also faced a decline, falling 39% to $3.7850 after the company reduced its quarterly dividend to $0.01 per share.
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Commodity Market Overview
In the commodity market, oil saw an increase of 0.9% to $72.02 while gold dipped by 0.4% to $2,020.20.
Silver experienced a decline of 1.5% to $22.715 on Thursday while copper rose by 0.1% to $3.7815.
Euro Zone Market Update
European shares depicted a downward trend today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell by 0.77%, London’s FTSE 100 by 0.98%, Spain’s IBEX 35 Index by 0.62% The German DAX fell by 0.86% French CAC 40 by 0.52% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell by 0.66%.
Industrial production in Spain increased by 0.8% year-over-year in November, while Italy’s industrial production declined by 1.5% month-over-month in November.
Asia Pacific Market Movement
Asian markets closed on a positive note on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 1.27% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.31%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex also rose by 0.1%.
China’s vehicle sales jumped 23.5% year-over-year in December to 3.156 million units, following a 27.4% surge in November. The index of leading economic indicators in Japan fell to 107.7 in November versus a final reading of 108.9 in the earlier month, while index of coincident economic indicators fell to 114.5 in November compared to a final 115.9 a month ago. Reserve assets in Japan climbed to $1.295 trillion in December from $1.270 trillion a month ago, recording the highest level since July 2022.
Economic Indicators
U.S. consumer prices increased by 0.3% month-over-month in December compared to a 0.1% rise in November and versus market estimates of 0.2%.
The annual inflation rate rose to 3.4% in December versus a five-month low level of 3.1% in November, and compared to market estimates of 3.2%.
U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 1,000 from the prior week’s revised reading of 202,000 in the period ending Jan, 6, compared to market expectations of 210,000.
U.S. natural-gas supplies fell 140 billion cubic feet during the week ended Jan. 5, 2024, the EIA said.
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