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On Thursday, the S&P 500 edged up slightly as Wall Street attempted to recover from losses earlier in the week. 

However, weaker-than-anticipated U.S. retail sales figures tempered gains. Retail sales for January fell by 0.8%, surpassing economists' expectations of a 0.3% decline, causing concerns about consumer strength amid persistent inflation and high-interest rates, subsequently leading to a decrease in Treasury yields. 

Earnings reports continued to present a mixed view of corporate performance, with Tripadvisor seeing a 5% surge after surpassing both revenue and profit estimates. While equities rebounded on Wednesday, they failed to fully offset losses from Tuesday's sell-off, triggered by an inflation report exceeding expectations. The S&P 500 managed to reclaim the 5,000 milestone, closing slightly above it.

As of 11:39 AM ET, the Dow was up 173.8398 points, or 0.4524%, at $38598.11. The Nasdaq Composite lost -36.9492 points, or -0.2075%, at $17770.682. The S&P 500 rose 8.6899 points, or 0.1738%, at $5009.31. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed positive movement, with Energy leading the way with a 1.58% increase.

Top Movers: Under $10

SoundHound AI Inc (SOUN) is up 47.45% today to trade at the current level of $3.33. This comes after Nvidia disclosed that it held about $3.7 million of SOUN stock.

Jumia Technologies Ag ADR (JMIA) zoomed 26.78% in today’s trade to $4.09 after announcing its financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023.

In current trading, Cardiol Therapeutics Inc (CRDL) stock is at $1.30 following news that the FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation for the Company's lead small molecule drug candidate for the treatment of pericarditis.

Intuitive Machines Inc (LUNR) rose 22.31% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $6.09 after announcing that its IM-1 mission Nova-C class lunar lander has launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and successfully commissioned in space by establishing a stable attitude, solar charging, and radio communications contact with the Company’s mission operations center in Houston.

In the current trading session, RiskOn International Inc (ROI) jumped 21.55% to $0.13 over a previous close of $0.11. The company announced the launching of the initial version of the askROI.com platform, which is scheduled to go live on or before March 4, 2024.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $1.19 per share. It has fixed February 20 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on March 05. Last year, the company distributed a total of $4.70 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, JNJ has a trailing yield of 2.99% on the current stock price of $157.40.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR), having a market capitalization of $6.03B. It will pay a dividend of $0.3 per share, the payment date of which is March 04. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 2.11%.

Shares of Southern Company (SO) will be the talk of stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.7 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $2.78 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that SO has a trailing yield of 4.14% on the current share price of $67.21.

Tomorrow, United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from UPS will amount to $1.63 per share. February 20 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for March 08. In the previous year, UPS distributed a total of $6.48 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for UPS stands at 4.46% based on the current stock price of $145.27.

Apollo Global Management Inc (APO) will be paying out a dividend of $0.43 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of February 20. Over the past 12 months, APO has paid out a total of $1.69 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, APO boasts an impressive trailing yield of 1.49% on the current share price of $113.37.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

Cassava Sciences Inc (SAVA) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 31.83% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 11.5. This represents a change of -1150000 shares, which corresponds to a -8.63% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $292.56 million. The average daily volume stands at 1.01M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $1.01B.

The Luminar Technologies Inc with the symbol LAZR currently has a short interest of 19.88%. The short interest has changed by -9600000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 10.0. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $209.34 million. On an average day, 7.99M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $1.06B.

With the symbol LCID, the stock currently has a short interest of 30.85%. The short interest change is 13430000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +5.24%. It would take approximately 6.8 days to cover all the short positions. The company boasts an average daily volume of 39.61M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $8.09B.

The stock FSR has a current short interest of 30.25%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -0.02% while there was a change of -20000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 3.2. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $199.61 million. Trading activity averages at 35.06M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $385.75M.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc (DMAC) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 62.0. The stock's performance, financial strength, and stock sentiment are strong. However, its Piotroski Score are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of value, profitability, growth, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Mineralys Therapeutics Inc (MLYS) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 55.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of performance, financial strength, and stock sentiment. The value, profitability, growth, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Astria Therapeutics Inc (ATXS) has the ST Score of 61.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast but weak in value, and Piotroski Score. Profitability, and growth suggest a neutral outlook.

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc (ARCT) stock has the ST Score of 61.0 which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses are in its growth, and financial strength. However, it shows neutral outlook in value, and forecast.

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (HALO) currently has the ST Score of 60.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its profitability, growth, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its performance, and financial strength. The stock's value, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.