S&P 500 Gains 1%; Fastenal Posts Downbeat Earnings

Market Performance - U S stocks traded higher with the S&P 500 gaining around 1% the Dow up 0 86% to 43 524 83 and the NASDAQ rising 1 46% to 19 620 72 [1] - Information technology shares surged by 1 8% while health care shares rose by just 0 1% [1] - European shares were higher with the eurozone's STOXX 600 surging 0 74% Germany's DAX 40 gaining 1 15% and France's CAC 40 gaining 1 06% [6] - Asian markets closed mixed with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0 31% China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0 18% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbing 0 31% [7] Company Earnings and Performance - Fastenal Company reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings with sales growth of 3 7% year-over-year to $1 825 billion missing the consensus of$1 844 billion and EPS of 46 cents missing the estimate of 48 cents [2] - Nukkleus Inc shares shot up 62% to $33 26 after resolving its Nasdaq delisting notice [9] - Versus Systems Inc shares surged 49$2 86 after announcing expansion into the Brazilian market [9] - Qorvo Inc shares gained 13% to $83 31 following a WSJ report indicating activist investor Starboard Value acquired a 7 7$0 27 after announcing a 1-for-20 reverse stock split [9] - BioLineRx Ltd shares were down 21% to $0 096 after announcing a dilutive change in the ratio of American depositary shares to ordinary shares [9] - J B Hunt Transport Services Inc shares fell 7$173 60 after reporting fourth-quarter EPS below estimates [9] Commodities - Oil traded down 0 5% to $78 28 while gold traded down 0 1$2 748 00 [5] - Silver traded down 1 8% to $31 160 and copper fell 1 4$4 3780 [5] Economic Indicators - U S industrial production rose by 0 9% in December topping market estimates of a 0 3% increase [8] - Housing starts rose by 15 8% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 1 499 million units in December [10] - Building permits declined by 0 7% to an annualized rate of 1 483 million in December [10]