Benzinga - by Avi Kapoor, Benzinga Staff Writer.
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher this morning, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 75 points on Friday.
Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.20% to 38,187.97 while the NASDAQ rose 0.05% to 16,745.67. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.19% to 5,245.55.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares rose by 0.9% on Friday.
In trading on Friday, consumer staples shares fell by 0.1%.
Top Headline
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure held steady in April, aligning with economist expectations, yet keeping investors anxious about potential rate cuts.
The headline PCE inflation rate held steady at 2.7% year-on-year in April 2024, matching economist expectations, according to Econoday data.
Equities Trading UP
- Novo Integrated Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVOS) shares shot up 137% to $1.07 after the company approved a $5 million stock repurchase. The company’s board is conducting a review to determine whether it is appropriate to increase the amount under the repurchase program.
- Shares of XChange Tec Inc (NASDAQ:XHG) got a boost, surging 45% to $0.9901 after dipping 15% on Thursday.
- Innovative Eyewear, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUCY) shares were also up, gaining 45% to $1.1500. Innovative Eyewear recently launched its Eddie Bauer Smart Eyewear collection.
- Sify Technologies Limited (NASDAQ:SIFY) shares dropped 38% to $1.04 after gaining over 8% on Thursday.
- Shares of Smart for Life, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMFL) were down 36% to $3.83.
- Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc (NYSE:CLDI) was down, falling 28% to $0.2155 after the company reported exercise of warrants for $2.1 million gross proceeds.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.2% to $78.06 while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,376.80.
Silver traded up 0.6% to $31.720 on Friday, while copper fell 0.3% to $4.6455.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, Germany's DAX gained 0.2% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.2%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index slipped 0.1%, while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.6%.
Annual inflation rate in the Eurozone increased to 2.6% in May compared to 2.4% in each of the prior two months. Producer prices in France fell 3.6% month-over-month for the month of April. The French economy grew by 0.2% quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter, while annual inflation rate in France came in steady at 2.2% in May.
Consumer credit in the UK increased by £73 million in April versus a revised £1.422 billion a month ago. Italy's gross domestic product increased by 0.3% from the prior quarter during the three months ending March. Retail sales in Germany fell 1.2% month-over-month during April.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei gaining 1.14%, China's Composite Index falling 0.16%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.83% and India's S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.01%.
Retail sales in Hong Kong fell 16.5% year-over-year in April compared to revised 8.7% decline in the earlier month. The NBS Composite PMI Output Index for China fell to 51.0 in May compared to April's reading of 51.7.
Retail sales in Japan increased by 2.4% year-over-year in April, while industrial production fell 0.1% month-over-month in April. Japan’s housing starts climbed by 13.9% year-over-year in April versus a 12.8% decline in the prior month. Japan's unemployment rated came in unchanged at 2.6% in April.
Economics
- The headline PCE inflation rate held steady at 2.7% year-on-year in April 2024, matching economist expectations, according to Econoday data.
- Personal income rose at a 0.3% monthly rate, slowing down from March's 0.5% growth and matching expectations.
- Personal spending advanced at a 0.2% pace, decelerating from March's 0.8% growth and missing expectations of 0.3%.
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