U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the S&P 500 gaining around 1.5% on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 1.23% to 40,501.91 while the NASDAQ jumped 2.28% to 17,584.56. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.52% to 5,538.34.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares climbed by 2.9% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA reported downbeat sales for its fiscal first quarter.

The Jack Ma co-founded e-commerce giant reported fiscal first-quarter 2024 revenue growth of 4% year-on-year to $33.47 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $34.81 billion. Adjusted earnings per ADS of $2.26 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.13.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Cingulate Inc. CING shares shot up 147% to $4.5802 after the company was granted European patent No. 3261625 for CTx-1301, its lead asset for the treatment of ADHD.
• Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. ASTS got a boost, surging 47% to $30.53 after the company said its first five commercial satellites are on target for orbital launch in the first half of September.
• Gambling.com Group Limited GAMB shares were also up, gaining 26% to $11.12 following better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Turnstone Biologics Corp. TSBX shares dropped 59% to $0.8975 after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter EPS results.
• Shares of SIGA Technologies, Inc. SIGA were down 26% to $8.82 after the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced topline results from a preliminary analysis of the PALM 007 trial of Tecovirimat for Monkeypox virus did not meet its primary endpoint.
• Terran Orbital Corporation LLAP was down, falling 41% to $0.2363. Lockheed Martin announced plans to acquire Terran Orbital.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.4% to $78.09 while gold traded up 0.6% at $2,493.80.

Silver traded up 4.1% to $28.46 on Thursday, while copper rose 2.7% to $4.1490.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.15%, Germany's DAX rose 1.66% and France's CAC 40 rose 1.23%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.23%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.80%.

The British economy grew by 0.9% year-over-year in the second quarter, recording the biggest annual growth rate since the third quarter of 2022. Labor productivity in the UK increased 0.3% on quarter during the second quarter. The UK’s trade deficit narrowed to £5.32 billion in June versus a revised £5.77 billion in the earlier month. Industrial production in the UK climbed 0.8% month-over-month for June.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 jumping 0.78%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.03% and China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.94%.

Industrial production in Japan fell by 4.2% month-over-month during June, while Japanese economy expanded by 3.1% on an annualized basis in the second quarter. China’s retail sales climbed by 2.7% year-over-year in July versus market estimates of 2.6%. China's industrial production rose by 5.1% year-over-year in July.

Economics

• U.S. retail sales gained 1% month-over-month in July versus a revised 0.2% decline in June and higher than market estimates of a 0.3% gain.
• The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index declined to -7 in August from 13.9 in July and versus market estimates of 7.
• The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index rose to -4.7 in August, notching the highest level in six months.
• Export prices increased 0.7% month-over-month in July, while import prices rose 0.1%.
• U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 7,000 to 227,000 in the week ending August 10, versus market estimates of 235,000.
• U.S industrial production declined by 0.6% from the prior month in July compared to a revised 0.3% gain in June.
• The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index declined to 39 in August, recording the lowest level so far in 2024.
• Total business inventories increased by 0.3% month-over-month in June compared to a 0.5% rise in the earlier month.
• U.S. natural-gas supplies fell 6 billion cubic feet during the week ended Aug. 9.

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