Crude Oil Falls Over 1%; US Consumer Sentiment Surges In December

U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index falling around 0.2% on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.19% to 44,679.63 while the NASDAQ rose 0.64% to 19,827.64. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.20% to 6,087.52.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped by 1.4% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 1.5%.

Top Headline

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose for a fifth straight month to 74 in December, recording the highest level since April, and up from 71.8 in November.

Equities Trading UP

Asana, Inc ASAN shares shot up 43% to $22.05 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued FY25 guidance above estimates. Also, Piper Sandler and Baird raised their respective price targets on the stock.
Shares of Rubrik, Inc. RBRK got a boost, surging 30% to $69.83 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued fourth-quarter revenue guidance above estimates. Also, Keybanc maintained an Overweight rating on the stock and raised its price target from $57 to $75
DocuSign, Inc. DOCU shares were also up, gaining 27% to $106.08 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued FY25 revenue guidance above estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Guidewire Software, Inc. GWRE shares dropped 16% to $174.21 following first-quarter results.
Shares of Mynaric AG MYNA were down 69% to $0.4440. Mynaric entered into negotiation for further funding with existing lender subject to financial reorganization under StaRUG, and postponed upcoming AGM.
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. SWBI was down, falling 20% to $10.91 after reporting second-quarter results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.2% to $67.47 while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,658.30.

Silver traded up 0.2% to $31.605 on Friday, while copper rose 0.3% to $4.2050.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.18%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.13% and France's CAC 40 rose 1.31%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.39%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.49%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.77%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 1.56%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.05% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.07%.

Economics

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 227,000, sharply accelerating from the previous upwardly revised 36,000 and above the expected 200,000 as per TradingEconomics estimates.
The unemployment rate rose from 4.1% to 4.2%, as expected.
Average hourly earnings advanced at a 0.4% monthly pace, holding steady from October's 0.4% increase and surpassing expectations of 0.3%.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose for a fifth straight month to 74 in December, recording the highest level since April, and up from 71.8 in November.

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