US stocks inch higher after Christmas holiday

U.S. stocks were slightly higher on Thursday, but moves lacked conviction amid thin trading volumes a day after the Christmas holiday.  

At of 3:44 p.m. ET (20:44 GMT), the S&P 500 rose 0.10%, the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.01% or 6 points. Jobless claims in U.S. dip to one-month low

The weekly U.S. jobless claims data released before the market opened on Thursday and saw a one-month low dip. 

The Labor Department reported a decrease of 1,000 in initial applications for state unemployment benefits, bringing the seasonally adjusted figure to 219,000 for the week that ended on December 21. This figure is lower than the 224,000 claims that economists had predicted for the same week.

Meanwhile, the number of individuals receiving benefits after their first week of aid, which serves as an indication of hiring, increased by 46,000. This brought the seasonally adjusted total to 1.910 million for the week that ended on December 14, the highest since November 2021. Economists had previously anticipated the number of these continued claims to be 1.880 million. 

"We do not think that this week's data will move the needle for any of them, but more prints in line with the tone of this week's data may motivate the doves on the Committee to speak up," Jefferies said in a recent note. Tech stocks climbs as Apple receives Wedbush boost   

The major tech giants were mostly down after the markets opened, with Apple marginally higher despite an upgrade from tech-bull Wedbush. 

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL ) gained 0.5% affter Wedbush raised its price target on Apple to $325 from $300 banking on transformative AI-driven iPhone upgrade cycle poised to fuel growth into 2025. 

"We believe Apple is heading into a multi-year AI driven iPhone upgrade cycle that is still being underestimated by the Street," Wedbush said in a recent note. Crypto-related stocks slip as bitcoin skids, but KULR Technology surges on BTC purchase 

Crypto-related stocks including MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR ) and Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN ) followed bitcoin lower as the most valuable cryptocurrency fell more than 3%. 

KULR Technology Group Inc (NYSE:KULR ) jumped 41% after the space technology company bought about 217 bitcoin and detailed plans to allocate up to 90% of its excess cash to bitcoin.

Source: Investing.com