Nasdaq Down Over 1%; US Initial Jobless Claims Fall - Cemtrex (NASDAQ:CETX), SeaStar Medical Holding (NASDAQ:ICU)

Market Overview - U.S. stocks traded lower, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 1% on Thursday, while the Dow decreased by 0.50% to 45,889.75 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.94% to 6,575.35 [1] - Consumer staples shares increased by 0.5% on Thursday, contrasting with a 1.5% decline in communication services stocks [1][2] Economic Indicators - Initial jobless claims decreased by 14,000 to 218,000 in the third week of September, better than market estimates of 235,000 [3][12] - U.S. wholesale inventories fell by 0.2% month-over-month to $898.8 billion in August, against expectations of a 0.1% increase [12] - Durable goods orders rose by 2.9% month-over-month to $312.1 billion in August, surpassing market estimates of a 0.5% decline [12] - The U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed by $17.3 billion to $85.5 billion in August, compared to market estimates of $95.65 billion [12] - The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.8% in the second quarter, an increase from the previous estimate of 3.3% [12] Commodity Market - Oil prices decreased by 0.5% to $64.66, while gold fell by 0.1% to $3,766.60 [6] - Silver prices increased by 1.4% to $44.805, whereas copper declined by 0.6% to $4.7865 [6] Company Performance - PepGen Inc. shares surged 107% to $5.51 following the announcement of a $100 million public offering priced at $3.20 per share [10] - SciSparc Ltd. shares rose 79% to $6.86 after announcing a quantum computing-enabled 3D protein modeling initiative [10] - Plus Therapeutics, Inc. shares increased by 40% to $0.5640 due to a national coverage agreement with UnitedHealthcare [10] - SeaStar Medical Holding Corporation shares plummeted 50% to $0.6226 after a recommendation to continue a pivotal trial [10] - Erayak Power Solution Group Inc. shares fell 31% to $0.0493 after a previous jump [10] - Cemtrex, Inc. shares dropped 29% to $0.4470 following the approval of a reverse stock split [10]