Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; U.S. Adds 312,000 New Jobs In December

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 2.19 percent to 23,182.99 while the NASDAQ climbed 2.69 percent to 6,637.13. The S&P also rose, gaining 2.33 percent to 2,504.93.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the information technology shares climbed 2.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Square Inc SQ up 8 percent, and GDS Holdings Ltd - ADR GDS up 7 percent.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares rose by just 0.9 percent.

Top Headline

The U.S. economy added 312,000 new jobs in December. However, economists were expecting a gain of 182,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate increased to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Flex Pharma, Inc. FLKS shares got a boost, shooting up 67 percent to $0.6400 after the company reported a merger with Salarius Pharma.

Shares of AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation APHB shot up 20 percent to $0.2749 after the company announced it is merging with C3J Therapeutics.

American Midstream Partners, LP AMID shares were also up, gaining 26 percent to $3.97 after the company reported that it has received revised buyout offer from ArcLight at $4.50 per unit.

Equities Trading DOWN

Arcus Biosciences, Inc. RCUS shares dropped 15 percent to $8.85 after the company disclosed that Jennifer Jarrett will step down as CFO and COO.

Shares of Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. MRSN were down 8 percent to $3.73 after the company announced it will discontinue development of XMT-1536.

Allakos Inc. ALLK was down, falling around 10 percent to $44.51.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.74 percent to $48.38 while gold traded down 0.51 percent to $1,288.20.

Silver traded down 0.14 percent Friday to $15.775, while copper rose 1.36 percent to $2.603.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.6 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.94 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 2.26 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.85 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 1.38 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.39 percent.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 312,000 new jobs in December. However, economists were expecting a gain of 182,000 jobs. The unemployment rate increased to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent.

The final reading of HIS Markit services PMI rose to 54.4 in December, versus initial reading of 53.6.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak in Atlanta, Georgia at 10:15 a.m. ET.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will speak in Atlanta, GA at 10:15 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.