Gold Gains Over 2%; US Consumer Sentiment Dips In April

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 300 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.78% to 39,903.35 while the NASDAQ gained 1.14% to 16,573.81. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.92% to 5,316.66.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares surged by 1.2% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 1%.

Top Headline

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment dipped to 50.8 in April, recording the weakest level since June, compared to 57 in March.

Equities Trading UP

Mixed Martial Arts Group Limited MMA shares shot up 77% to $1.4101 after the company secured $2 million non-dilutive financing.
Shares of MSP Recovery, Inc. MSPRgot a boost, surging 89% to $2.4099. On Thursday, the company entered into a strategic term sheet with Hazel Partners, Virage Capital and affiliates to execute a series of restructuring initiatives.
Simulations Plus, Inc. SLP shares were also up, gaining 21% to $31.18. The stock may be moving up after the FDA stated plans to phase out animal testing requirements for monoclonal antibodies and other drugs.

Equities Trading DOWN

Innovative Eyewear, Inc. LUCY shares dropped 52% to $2.39 after the company announced exercise of warrants for $1.8 million gross proceeds.
Shares of Steel Partners Holdings L.P. SPLP were down 15% to $31.15 as the company reported voluntary NYSE delisting and SEC deregistration.
Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. ULCC was down, falling 13% to $3.1050. Evercore ISI Group analyst Duane Pfennigwerth maintained Frontier Group with an In-Line rating and lowered the price target from $7 to $5.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $60.50 while gold traded up 2.5% at $3,257.80.

Silver traded up 4.3% to $32.08 on Friday, while copper rose 4.8% to $4.5460.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.10%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 0.92% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.30%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.18%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.64%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dipping 2.96%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.45%, Hong Kong's Gang Seng index rising 1.13% and India's BSE Sensex jumping 1.77%.

Economics

U.S. producer prices fell 0.4% month-over-month in March compared to a 0.1% gain in the previous month.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment dipped to 50.8 in April, recording the weakest level since June, compared to 57 in March.

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