Gold Slightly Declines as Alibaba Reports Positive Earnings

U.S. Stock Market Ends Higher as Dow Jones Gains 150 Points

As the trading day came to a close, U.S. stocks saw gains, with the Dow Jones index rising approximately 150 points on Thursday.

The Dow showed a 0.44% increase, reaching 35,277.94, while the NASDAQ experienced a 0.29% boost to 13,761.56. The S&P 500 also followed suit, rising by 0.28% to 4,480.22.

Sector Performance Overview

Communication services stocks enjoyed a 0.4% surge on Thursday, displaying strong performance. Conversely, industrial sector shares declined by 0.4% during the day’s trading.

Notable Highlight

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) announced impressive financial results for the first quarter.

In the first quarter of FY23, Alibaba’s revenue grew by 14% year-on-year, reaching $32.29 billion, surpassing the consensus of $31.20 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per ADS reached $2.40, outperforming the consensus of $2.02.

Market Activity

Several equities saw notable movements:

• Edible Garden AG Incorporated (NASDAQ:EDBL) shares surged 29% to $1.53 following strong second-quarter financial results.
• Capri Holdings Limited (NYSE:CPRI) experienced a 56% increase, reaching $54.03, after Tapestry announced its intention to acquire the company.
• Holley Inc. (NYSE:HLLY) shares gained 20% and reached $7.43, as the company posted optimistic second-quarter results and raised its FY23 revenue outlook.

Conversely:

• Galera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRTX) shares declined by 84% to $0.3581 after receiving a Complete Response Letter from the FDA for avasopasem manganese.
• Amyris, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRS) saw a 69% decrease to $0.1078 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• Origin Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORGN) experienced a 68% decline to $1.3664 after reporting mixed second-quarter financial results.

Commodity Performance

In commodity news:

• Oil prices fell by 1.5% to $83.16.
• Gold prices experienced a 0.2% decrease, reaching $1,946.40.
• Silver prices increased by 0.1% to $22.745.
• Copper prices fell by 0.8% to $3.7520.

Global Market Overview

European markets ended on a positive note, with the STOXX 600 rising by 0.79%, FTSE 100 by 0.41%, IBEX 35 Index by 1.58%, DAX by 0.91%, CAC 40 by 1.52%, and FTSE MIB Index by 0.94%.

In the Eurozone, Italy’s annual inflation rate eased to 5.9% in July from 6.4% in the previous month.

Asian markets demonstrated mixed results, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.84%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rising by 0.31%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increasing by 0.01%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex declined by 0.5%.

Economic Indicators

Key economic indicators included:

• U.S. initial jobless claims increasing by 21,000 to 248,000 in the week ended August 5, surpassing market estimates of 230,000.
• The U.S. annual inflation rate rising to 3.2% in July from 3% in June, aligning with market estimates of 3.3%. The monthly inflation rate remained steady at 0.2% in July, in line with market projections.

COVID-19 Update

Globally, COVID-19 continued to impact populations:

• The U.S. reported a total of 107,583,080 cases and around 1,170,860 deaths.
• India confirmed at least 44,996,110 cases and 531,910 deaths.
• France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases and 167,640 deaths.
• Globally, the total number of COVID-19 cases reached at least 693,025,830 with over 6,905,740 deaths.