Benzinga - by Lisa Levin, Benzinga Editor.
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite edging higher on Friday.
The Dow traded up 0.10% to 34,535.92 while the NASDAQ rose 0.02% to 13,751.67. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.05% to 4,453.21.
Check This Out: Top 5 Health Care Stocks That May Explode In Q3
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares jumped by 1.4% on Friday.
In trading on Friday, real estate shares fell by 0.7%.
Top Headline
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and reached an opioid settlement agreement, agreeing to pay up to $1.2 billion to states and subdivisions and $36 million to tribes.
Kroger reported a second-quarter FY23 sales decline of 2.3% year-on-year to $33.85 billion, missing the analyst consensus of $34.13 billion. Adjusted EPS of $0.96 beat the consensus estimate of $0.91.
Kroger sees FY23 adjusted EPS of $4.45 - $4.60 versus an estimate of $4.51.
Equities Trading UP
Biocept, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOC) shares shot up 56% to $1.31 after the company announced non-exclusive licensing agreement for CNSide with Plus Therapeutics.
Shares of Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: SWBI) got a boost, shooting 13% to $11.83 after the company reported a second-quarter earnings beat and issued strong guidance.
Lantronix, Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRX) shares were also up, gaining 25% to $4.99 following better-than-expected quarterly sales.
Equities Trading DOWN
Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: GROM) shares dropped 46% to $2.1716 after the company reported pricing of $3.0 million public offering.
Shares of Rent the Runway, Inc. (NASDAQ: RENT) were down 28% to $0.98 after the company reported downbeat second-quarter sales and issued weak third-quarter forecast.
Arqit Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQQ) was down, falling 32% to $0.6509 after the company reported a $16.2 million registered direct offering.
Also Check This Out: Around $4M Bet On This Healthcare Stock? Check Out These 3 Stocks Insiders Are Buying
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.6% to $87.42 while gold traded up 0.1% at $1,943.80.
Silver traded down 0.1% to $23.21 on Friday while copper fell 1.1% to $3.72.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.22% London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.49% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.59% The German DAX rose 0.14% French CAC 40 rose 0.62%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.28%.
Industrial production in Spain declined by 1.8% year-over-year in July following a revised 3.2% fall in the prior month. French industrial output increased by 0.8% month-over-month in July versus a 0.9% decline in June.
Germany’s consumer price inflation rate eased to 6.1% year-over-year in August from 6.2% in the earlier month.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 1.16% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.18%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.5%.
The gauge for Japan's service sector sentiment fell to 53.6 in August from 54.4 a month ago. Japanese current account surplus widened to JPY 2.772 trillion in July from JPY 1.509 trillion in the previous month, while the country’s economy expanded 1.2% quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter.
Economics
Wholesale inventories in the U.S. declined by 0.2% from a month ago in July versus the preliminary estimate of a 0.1% fall and compared to a 0.7% decline in the previous month.
The total number of active U.S. oil rigs climbed by 1 to 513 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.
Now Read This: Top 5 Tech Stocks That May Crash In September
COVID-19 Update
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 108,268,240 cases with around 1,174,460 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,997,460 cases and 531,930 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 695,034,570 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,913,060 deaths.
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.