Benzinga - by Avi Kapoor, Benzinga Staff Writer.
U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the S&P 500 gaining around 1% on Friday.
The Dow traded up 0.41% to 38,243.14 while the NASDAQ rose 2.00% to 15,923.52. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.02% to 5,099.85.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communication services shares rose by 4.1% on Friday.
In trading on Friday, energy shares dipped by 2%.
Top Headline
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) reported downbeat earnings for its first quarter on Friday.
Total revenues and other income stood at $83.083 billion, beating the consensus of $78.352 billion. Adjusted EPS stood at $2.06, missing the consensus of $2.20.
Equities Trading UP
- Biodexa Pharmaceuticals Plc (NASDAQ:BDRX) shares shot up 85% to $1.33 after the company entered an exclusive license agreement with Rapamycin Holdings for the rights to eRapa.
- Shares of Focus Universal Inc. (NASDAQ:FCUV) got a boost, surging 47% to $0.4150 after the company announced board approval for the spin-off of Lusher.
- Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULH) shares were also up, gaining 31% to $43.15 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
- iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (NASDAQ:ICLK) shares dropped 42% to $1.50 after the company announced the termination of its merger agreement.
- Shares of Nuwellis, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUWE) were down 43% to $0.1636 after the company reported pricing of $2.7 million public offering.
- Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) was down, falling 20% to $435.67 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1% to $83.48 while gold traded up 0.1% at $2,345.20.
Silver traded down 0.5% to $27.21 on Friday, while copper rose 0.5% to $4.56.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.16%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.76% while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.48% The German DAX rose 1.40% French CAC 40 rose 1.03% while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.00%.
Bank lending to households in the Eurozone rose by 0.2% year-over-year to €6.875 trillion in March. Spain’s retail trade increased by 0.6% year-over-year in March versus a revised 1.8% gain in the earlier month, while unemployment rate increased to 12.29% in the first quarter.
The consumer confidence indicator in France declined to 90 in April versus a reading of 91 in the prior month.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.81%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumping 2.12%, China's Shanghai Composite climbing 1.17% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.82%.
The Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rate unchanged at its April meeting. Singapore’s manufacturing production declined 9.2% year-over-year in March versus a revised 4.4% increase in the prior month.
Economics
- The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation – the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index – rose more than expected in March. The headline PCE price index rose from 2.5% in February 2024 to 2.7% year-on-year in March, beating forecasts of a 2.6% increase, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.
- U.S. personal income increased by 0.5% from the prior month in March, while personal spending rose by 0.8%.
- The University of Michigan consumer sentiment was revised lower to 77.2 in April compared to a preliminary reading of 77.9, and versus 79.4 in March.
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