Federal Aviation Administration Picks Peraton To Oversee $12.5 Billion Air Traffic Control Reform Effort

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Industrials, Telecoms and Technology sectors led shares higher while losses in the Consumer Services, Healthcare and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.11%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.22%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 3.66% or 8.74 points to trade at 247.46 at the close. Meanwhile, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) added 2.13% or 3.82 points to end at 183.40 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was up 1.76% or 5.34 points to 307.96 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), which fell 2.21% or 3.82 points to trade at 169.27 at the close. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 1.88% or 6.74 points to end at 351.17 and Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was down 1.83% or 6.22 points to 333.49.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) which rose 14.01% to 125.29, Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which was up 4.73% to settle at 30.78 and MarketAxess Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MKTX) which gained 4.72% to close at 167.25.

The worst performers were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) which was down 7.43% to 40.51 in late trade, LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) which lost 6.25% to settle at 43.16 and Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which was down 5.81% to 119.14 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SMX Security Matters Ord Shs Class A (NASDAQ:SMX) which rose 141.07% to 141.00, Polyrizon Ltd (NASDAQ:PLRZ) which was up 104.51% to settle at 14.50 and Synchronoss Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SNCR) which gained 64.34% to close at 8.71.

The worst performers were Nano Labs Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:NA) which was down 27.18% to 3.00 in late trade, Nauticus Robotics Inc (NASDAQ:KITT) which lost 25.00% to settle at 1.17 and Super X AI Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:SUPX) which was down 20.98% to 18.53 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1378 to 1373 and 85 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2012 rose and 1330 declined, while 196 ended unchanged.

Shares in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) rose to 52-week highs; up 14.01% or 15.40 to 125.29. Shares in Nano Labs Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:NA) fell to 52-week lows; falling 27.18% or 1.12 to 3.00.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.87% to 15.78 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.16% or 6.70 to $4,239.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.36% or 0.80 to hit $59.75 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.10% or 0.69 to trade at $63.36 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.22% to 1.16, while USD/JPY fell 0.10% to 155.12.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.25% at 99.04.

Investing.com -- BQP gained increased attention in the quantum-computing sector in November following the announcement that the company had partnered with NVIDIA and Classiq on a new demonstration that combines quantum and classical computing for advanced simulation workflows. 

The collaboration uses NVIDIA’s CUDA-Q simulator alongside Classiq’s circuit-optimisation platform and BQP’s quantum algorithms to test hybrid configurations long before commercial quantum hardware becomes widely available.

Abhishek Chopra, BQP’s chief executive and co-founder, told Investing.com that the development marks a meaningful acceleration in the timeline for practical quantum computing. 

“This partnership is accelerating quantum research and development by years, bringing capabilities we thought were five years away much closer to reality,” he stated.

The fundamental challenge, according to Chopra, is that quantum processors remain scarce, but the software that will eventually run on them needs to be designed and validated now. 

BQP develops algorithms for computational fluid dynamics and digital-twin applications, with Classiq compressing those circuits to make them more efficient. 

NVIDIA’s GPU-powered simulator then provides the environment to test how CPU, GPU and quantum components will work together.

Chopra said the speed gains are substantial. “A single test might take 10 hours. With NVIDIA’s GPU-powered simulator, that same experiment now takes a couple of hours.” 

That improvement allows the company to run more experiments, test more configurations and shorten product-development cycles.

The immediate outcome, he noted, is faster experimentation, enabling BQP to identify the most efficient quantum approaches earlier. 

The work is also said to position the company’s customers, who already use quantum-inspired methods on classical infrastructure, to transition smoothly when quantum hardware reaches commercial maturity.

Furthermore, Chopra explained that BQP also works with IBM and Intel, with these relationships sitting alongside the new collaboration. 

IBM provides the hardware foundation that guides BQP’s algorithm design, while Intel contributes middleware that supports hybrid deployments. 

Chopra remarked: “These relationships are parallel but complementary. IBM’s hardware roadmap guides what we build; middleware solutions like those from Intel and Classiq determine how efficiently we can build and deploy it. 

“Together, they help us create a complete quantum-ready stack that will transition smoothly from today’s hybrid classical-quantum systems to tomorrow’s fully quantum-native infrastructure.”

Looking ahead, BQP believes there will be “much deeper” collaboration with Nvidia and Classiq, with “many more challenges to solve,” such as optimizing how software and hardware interact, improving efficiency across hybrid systems, building the workflows that will define how quantum and classical computing work together in production environments. 

“We’re excited to go deeper with both NVIDIA and Classiq to tackle these problems and accelerate the path to practical quantum computing for industrial applications,” Chopra commented.