Benzinga | Jul 8, 2021 10:16AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; US Initial Jobless Claims Increase To 373,000

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.12% to 34,294.76 while the NASDAQ fell 1.35% to 14,467.79. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.24% to 4,303.53.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,771,940 cases with around 606,220 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 30,709,550 cases and 405,020 deaths, while Brazil reported over 18,909,030 COVID-19 cases with 528,540 deaths. In total, there were at least 185,125,230 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,002,920 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 0.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC), up 1%, and Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED), up 1%.

In trading on Thursday, financial shares fell 1.9%.

Top Headline

US initial jobless claims rose to 373,000 in the latest week, from a revised level of 371,000 in the previous week. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 350,000.



Equities Trading UP

Carver Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARV) shares shot up 189% to $30.55 after gaining 8% on Wednesday.

Shares of Cohen & Company Inc. (NYSE:COHN) got a boost, shooting 38% to $27.45.

Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ:UONE) shares were also up, gaining 34% to $10.14 after dropping 9% on Wednesday.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Newegg Commerce, Inc. (NASDAQ:NEGG) shares tumbled 24% to $51.20 after jumping over 148% on Wednesday.

Shares of Pop Culture Group Co., Ltd (NASDAQ:CPOP) were down 24% to $20.00 after dropping around 17% on Wednesday on continued post-IPO volatility.

360 DigiTech, Inc. (NASDAQ:QFIN) was down, falling 22% to $25.81 as traders circulated a finance.sinia.com report titled "The 360 IOU APP, the core product of 360 Digital, has been removed."

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $71.56, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,815.70.

Silver traded up 0.3% Thursday to $26.205 while copper fell 1.9% to $4.2425.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 tumbled 1.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.5% and the German DAX 30 declined 1.7%. Meanwhile, the London's FTSE 100 dropped 1.8%, French CAC 40 dipped 2.2% and Italy's FTSE MIB declined 2.7%.

German current account surplus increased to EUR 13.1 billion in May from EUR 7.1 billion in the year-ago month, while trade surplus widened to EUR 12.3 billion from EUR 7 billion.

Economics

US initial jobless claims rose to 373,000 in the latest week, from a revised level of 371,000 in the previous week.

The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for May will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here