Markets finished mixed Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell.
First-time claims for regular state unemployment benefits fell to 793,000 for the week ending Feb. 6. That’s a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level. New claims have declined since the beginning of January but remain elevated overall as the pandemic drubs businesses.
Meanwhile, House impeachment managers wrapped up their arguments in former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.
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The Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday that the federal budget deficit is set to total $2.3 trillion in the 2021 fiscal year. While that’s a decrease from the $3 trillion level surpassed in 2020, the number doesn’t include President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposed stimulus plan.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell seven points, or 0.02%, to finish at 31,430.
Dating app Bumble goes public. Investors showed love to Bumble (ticker: BMBL) as it began trading Thursday. The company, which owns the eponymous online dating app, had priced its shares at $43. Shares ended the day at $70, up more than 60%.
Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd, 31, is one of the youngest female CEOs to take a company public.
The Bumble dating app is largely free but earns money through in-app purchases and paid premium features.
Virgin Galactic flies high. Virgin Galactic Holdings ( SPCE) soared Thursday, finishing the day up 13%.
A notice from the Federal Aviation Administration, which will restrict the airspace around Virgin Galactic’s New Mexico base, indicates that the company is on schedule to launch its next test flight as soon as Saturday.
Earlier this month, Virgin Galactic stated that the flight would build on lessons learned from an aborted December 2020 attempt. “A key objective of the upcoming flight will be to test the remedial work that has been completed since the Dec. 12, 2020 flight when the onboard computer halted ignition of the rocket motor,” the company said in a statement.
Pot stocks burn out. Shares of marijuana stocks were red-hot earlier this week as traders on Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets lit up the sector.
But the high appears to be wearing off. Shares of Tilray ( TLRY) fell nearly 50% Thursday. Aphria ( APHA) dropped 36%. Sundial Growers ( SNDL) dove nearly 20%.
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Bumble IPO Soars; Virgin Galactic Takes Flight originally appeared on usnews.com
