U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.14%

Investing.com – Mexico stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Industrials, Consumer Goods & Services and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Mexico, the S&P/BMV IPC gained 2.01%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/BMV IPC were Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion SAB de CV (BMV:VOLARA), which rose 5.23% or 0.74 points to trade at 14.90 at the close. Meanwhile, Genomma Lab Internacional SAB De CV (BMV:LABB) added 5.13% or 0.90 points to end at 18.44 and GCC SAB de CV (BMV:GCC) was up 4.73% or 8.68 points to 192.30 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Qualitas Controladora, SAB De CV (BMV:Q), which fell 0.97% or 1.73 points to trade at 176.27 at the close. Grupo Carso, S.A.B. De C.V. (BMV:GCARSOA1) declined 0.85% or 0.99 points to end at 115.00 and Sigma Foods SAB de CV (BMV:SIGMAFA) was down 0.72% or 0.11 points to 15.20.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Mexico Stock Exchange by 150 to 84 and 14 ended unchanged.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.23% or 10.15 to $4,363.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.27% or 0.15 to hit $55.96 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.18% or 0.11 to trade at $59.79 a barrel.

USD/MXN was unchanged 0.00% to 18.00, while EUR/MXN fell 0.13% to 21.10.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 98.11.

Investing.com – Canada stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Real Estate, REITs and Consumer Staples sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite gained 0.61%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were NFI Group Inc (TSX:NFI), which rose 7.19% or 1.04 points to trade at 15.50 at the close. Meanwhile, Aritzia Inc (TSX:ATZ) added 4.27% or 4.71 points to end at 114.96 and Ngex Minerals Ltd (TSX:NGEX) was up 4.25% or 1.06 points to 26.02 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Curaleaf Holdings Inc (TSX:CURA), which fell 32.05% or 2.08 points to trade at 4.41 at the close. Discovery Silver Corp (TSX:DSV) declined 5.45% or 0.50 points to end at 8.68 and BRP Inc (TSX:DOO) was down 5.35% or 5.56 points to 98.44.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 499 to 371 and 94 ended unchanged.

The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was down 15.79% to 11.84.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.25% or 10.85 to $4,363.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.23% or 0.13 to hit $55.94 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.15% or 0.09 to trade at $59.77 a barrel.

CAD/USD was unchanged 0.08% to 0.73, while CAD/EUR unchanged 0.21% to 0.62.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 98.11.

Investing.com -- Cue Biopharma (NASDAQ:CUE) shares plunged 30% in after-hours trading Thursday after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company announced plans for an underwritten public offering of common stock and accompanying warrants.

The company, which develops therapeutics to modulate disease-specific T cells for autoimmune diseases, said it would offer shares of its common stock or pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock, along with accompanying warrants to purchase additional shares. Cue Biopharma also plans to grant underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares and/or warrants offered in the public offering.

H.C. Wainwright & Co. is serving as the sole book-running manager for the proposed offering, with Newbridge Securities Corporation acting as co-manager.

The sharp decline in share price reflects typical market reaction to public offerings, which often lead to dilution of existing shareholders’ stakes. The company noted that the offering is subject to market conditions, with no guarantee regarding completion timing or final terms.

Cue Biopharma did not disclose the intended use of proceeds from the offering in its announcement. The company focuses on developing novel therapeutic biologics that selectively engage and modulate disease-specific T cells for treating autoimmune diseases.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com – Russia stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Telecoms, Oil & Gas and Manufacturing sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Moscow, the MOEX Russia Index declined 0.13%.

The best performers of the session on the MOEX Russia Index were AK ALROSA PJSC (MCX:ALRS), which rose 3.55% or 1.49 points to trade at 43.51 at the close. Meanwhile, LUKOIL PJSC (MCX:LKOH) added 2.73% or 156.50 points to end at 5,887.00 and OZON (MCX:OZON) was up 2.23% or 92.00 points to 4,222.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Moskovskiy Kreditnyi Bank PAO (MCX:CBOM), which fell 4.36% or 0.31 points to trade at 6.89 at the close. TATNEFT n.a. V.D. Shashin (MCX:TATN) declined 2.52% or 15.20 points to end at 589.00 and TATNEFT n.a. V.D. Shashin Pref (MCX:TATN_p) was down 1.71% or 9.60 points to 550.30.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Moscow Stock Exchange by 117 to 116 and 17 ended unchanged.

The Russian Volatility Index – RVI, which measures the implied volatility of MOEX Russia Index options, was down 1.59% to 32.09.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.24% or 10.70 to $4,363.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.25% or 0.14 to hit $55.95 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.13% or 0.08 to trade at $59.76 a barrel.

USD/RUB was down 0.85% to 79.81, while EUR/RUB fell 0.97% to 93.58.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 98.10.

Investing.com – Colombia stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Industrials, Services and Agriculture sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Colombia, the COLCAP added 0.09%.

The best performers of the session on the COLCAP were Organizacion Terpel SA (BVC:TPL), which rose 2.63% or 500.00 points to trade at 19,500.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Grupo Bolivar SA (BVC:SCA) added 1.71% or 1,540.00 points to end at 91,540.00 and Grupo Energia Bogota SA ESP (BVC:GEB) was up 0.84% or 25.00 points to 2,985.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana SA Preferred (BVC:SIS_p), which fell 2.67% or 1,200.00 points to trade at 43,820.00 at the close. Grupo Argos SA Pref (BVC:ARG_p) declined 2.64% or 340.00 points to end at 12,560.00 and Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana SA (BVC:SIS) was down 1.91% or 1,060.00 points to 54,340.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Colombia Stock Exchange by 1 to 0.

Shares in Organizacion Terpel SA (BVC:TPL) rose to all time highs; up 2.63% or 500.00 to 19,500.00.

US coffee C for March delivery was down 0.69% or 2.40 to $345.00 . Elsewhere in commodities trading, US cocoa for delivery in March fell 0.84% or 50.00 to hit $5,928.00 , while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.24% or 10.70 to trade at $4,363.20 a troy ounce.

USD/COP was down 0.18% to 3,863.71, while BRL/COP fell 0.37% to 700.26.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 98.10.

Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed higher Thursday, driven by a rebound in big tech from the recent selloff as weaker-than-expected consumer inflation data boosted expectations for further interest rates cuts by the Federal Reserve next year.

At 4:00 p.m. ET (21:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.8%, and the NASDAQ Composite climbed 1.4%.

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Cooling inflation boosts rate-cut bets 

U.S. inflation rose by less than expected in November, as the first batch of inflation data was published since the government shutdown ended in mid-November.

The U.S. consumer price index in November rose 2.7% on an annualized basis, a drop from the 3.0% figure announced in September and below the expected 3.1% growth.

The so-called core reading, which strips out volatile items like food and energy, rose 2.6% year-on-year, below the 3.0% growth forecast.

The BLS had previously said it would not publish the headline CPI number or the core CPI for October after it was unable to collect some data during that month due to the prolonged government shutdown. 

"As a reminder, due to the government shutdown, the BLS was unable to collect most October data and only started on the November collection almost halfway through the month," said analysts at Capital Economics, in a note. "It’s possible that this does reflect a genuine drop off in inflationary pressures, but such a sudden stop, particularly in the more-persistent services components like rent of shelter is very unusual, at least outside of a recession. The upshot is that is looks like we all have to wait until the December data is published next month to verify whether this is a statistical blip or a genuine disinflation."

Data pointing to cooling inflation helped firm up rate-cut expectations for next year, wit the odds of at least 50-basis of cuts through the end of 2026 rising to about 80% from 75% prior to the data.

Micron soars on earnings, guidance as big tech rebounds 

Sentiment receive a boost after Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) beat expectations for its fiscal first quarter earnings, and guided current quarter earnings at nearly twice as what analysts were expecting. 

The memory chip maker flagged outsized demand from the AI industry, and said this was likely to continue as more companies built out their data center infrastructure. 

Micron, along with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660), is a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are a critical component of AI processors. The company benefited greatly from outsized demand for these HBM chips in recent quaters, which helped offset sluggish demand from consumer electronics.

The sentiment on big tech improved followings days of selling, with Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) all rising more than 2%. 

Instacart slides on FTC probe report

Among other major movers, Instacart (NASDAQ:CART) fell sharply after Reuters reported the company was facing a U.S. Federal Trade Commission probe over allegations of price discrimination using artificial intelligence. 

The company had faced growing consumer scrutiny over AI pricing, with U.S. lawmakers also calling for an investigation after a study earlier in December showed consumers being charged different prices– with discrepancies going as high as 23%-- for different items.

CarMax (NYSE:KMX) stock fell after the auto retailer flagged plans to lower retail margins and step up marketing spend in the current quarter, while its third-quarter sales exceeded analyst estimates.

On the other hand, furniture company MillerKnoll (NASDAQ:MLKN) gained on the back of positive earnings results and strong third-quarter guidance, while Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) surged after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliott has taken a more than $1 billion stake in the athletic-wear company.

Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article