All three major US stock indexes were pointing higher around midday trading on Thursday as investors digested quarterly earnings results from key banks and chipmakers.
The US Labor Department said US initial jobless claims fell to a level of 198,000 in the week ended Jan. 10 from a downwardly revised 207,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for an increase to 215,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.
In company news, BlackRock (BLK) rose past 5% after it reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $13.16 per diluted share, up from $11.93 a year earlier. Revenue stood at $7.01 billion, up from $5.68 billion a year earlier.
Amazon.com (AMZN) is challenging Saks Global Enterprises' foray into Chapter 11 and its bankruptcy financing plan, alleging breach of contract, Bloomberg News reported. The e-commerce giant claimed that the luxury retailer violated an agreement governing the sale of Saks products on its website and that its equity investment in the business is now "presumptively worthless," the news outlet added. Shares of Amazon were up 1.6%.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) climbed 7.1% in recent trading after reporting Q4 earnings of 19.50 New Taiwan dollars ($0.62) per diluted share, up from NT$14.45 a year earlier. Net sales were NT$1.046 trillion, up from NT$868.46 billion a year earlier.
Paramount Skydance's (PSKY) lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will not be fast-tracked after a Delaware judge ruled that its claims failed to meet the legal standard for an expedited hearing, media outlets reported, citing a decision issued by the court. Paramount was down 0.9% and Warner Bros. fell 0.4% in recent trading.
Ford Motor (F) is in talks to buy batteries from Chinese auto company BYD for its hybrid vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ford may import batteries from BYD to its factories outside the US due to high tariffs, the report added. Ford shares were up 0.1%.
Rocket Lab (RKLB) fell 3.8% after KeyBanc downgraded the stock to sector weight from overweight and removed its $75 price target. The company has an average rating of overweight and mean price target of $71.08, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Nvidia (NVDA) is joining the $120 million Series C round of Harmonic, which values the startup at $1.45 billion, Axios reported, quoting Harmonic. The startup specializes in AI systems to solve mathematical problems, the report added. Shares of Nvidia were up 3.2%.
Price: 189.07, Change: +5.93, Percent Change: +3.24
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