U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 200 points on Thursday.
The Dow traded up 0.78% to 49,462.35 while the NASDAQ gained 0.94% to 23,443.19. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.63% to 6,918.78.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communication services shares gained by 1.3% on Thursday.
In trading on Wednesday, utilities stocks dipped by 0.5%.
Top Headline
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) stock fell over 7% on Thursday after the company reported fourth-quarter 2025 sales and the first-quarter 2026 earnings outlook below expectations.
The company reported quarterly sales of $11.46 billion, slightly missing the consensus of $11.80 billion. Sales increased 4.4% on a reported basis, 3% on an organic basis, or 3.8% when excluding COVID-19 testing-related sales.
The U.S. MedTech giant reported adjusted earnings of $1.50, in line with Wall Street estimates.
Equities Trading UP
Equities Trading DOWN
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 2.1% to $59.37 while gold traded up 0.6% at $4,864.60.
Silver traded up 2.7% to $95.135 on Thursday, while copper fell 0.4% to $5.7435.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 1.09%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.01%. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.26%, Germany's DAX gained 1.19% and France's CAC 40 gained 1.12% during the session.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei gaining 1.73%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 0.17%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.14% and India's BSE Sensex rising 0.49%.
Economics
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