Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; US Economy Adds 559,000 Jobs in May

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.26% to 34,666.18 while the NASDAQ rose 1.22% to 13,780.27. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.64% to 4,219.82.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,326,410 cases with around 596,430 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 28,574,350 cases and 340,700 deaths, while Brazil reported over 16,803,470 COVID-19 cases with 469,380 deaths. In total, there were at least 172,189,880 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,702,660 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 1.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included MongoDB, Inc. MDB, up 14%, and DocuSign, Inc. DOCU, up 13%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

The US economy added 559,000 jobs in May, compared to revised 278,000 gain in April. However, analysts were expecting an addition of 650,000 jobs.

The US unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in May, the lowest since March 2020.

 

Equities Trading UP

SemiLEDs Corporation LEDS shares shot up 67% to $25.24 after gaining 23% on Thursday.

Shares of Senseonics Holdings, Inc. SENS got a boost, shooting 28% to $2.6110 after the company disclosed results from a PROMISE study evaluating its Eversense CGM System for up to 180 days. The Eversense CGM is a continuous glucose monitoring device.

Vinco Ventures, Inc. BBIG shares were also up, gaining 26% to $4.2001.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. HARP shares tumbled 24% to $16.00 after the company presented updated interim clinical data for the PSMA-targeting TriTAC® HPN424 at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Shares of Purple Biotech Ltd. PPBT were down 22% to $5.24 after the company presented new clinical data from NT219 at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting.

NGL Energy Partners LP NGL was down, falling 22% to $2.45 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $69.01, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,872.30.

Silver traded down 0.1% Friday to $27.455 while copper rose 0.4% to $4.4815.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.1%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.3%, French CAC 40 fell 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.1%.

The IHS Markit Eurozone construction PMI rose to 50.3 in May from 50.1 in April. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK construction PMI climbed to 64.2 in May, while new car registrations surged to 156,737 units in May.

French construction PMI increased to 51.1 in May from 49.8 in the earlier month, while German construction PMI slipped to 44.5 from 46.2.

Economics

The US economy added 559,000 jobs in May, compared to revised 278,000 gain in April. However, analysts were expecting an addition of 650,000 jobs. The US unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in May, the lowest since March 2020.

US factory orders fell 0.6% for April.

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

Check out the full economic calendar here