Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.40% to 34,739.37 while the NASDAQ fell 0.06% to 15,238.92. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21% to 4,483.84.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 40,606,090 cases with around 654,620 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 33,174,950 cases and 442,000 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,958,890 COVID-19 cases with 585,170 deaths. In total, there were at least 223,266,160 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,607,520 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Materials shares gained 0.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ramaco Resources, Inc. METC, up 9% and Lithium Americas Corp. LAC up 12%.
In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell by 1%.
Top Headline
The Kroger Co. KR reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Friday.
Kroger reported quarterly earnings of $0.80 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.64 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $31.68 billion, versus expectations of $30.68 billion.
Kroger said it sees FY21 earnings of $3.25 to $3.35 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $3.06 per share.
Equities Trading UP
IVERIC bio, Inc. ISEE shares shot up 56% to $13.53 after Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported results from its Phase 3 DERBY and OAKS studies in geographic atrophy. IVERIC Bio, a competitor to Apellis, is also working on a product to treat geographic atrophy, called Zimura. Stifel initiated coverage on IVERIC bio with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $22.
Shares of Echo Global Logistics, Inc. ECHO got a boost, shooting 54% to $48.18 after the company agreed to be acquired by private equity firm The Jordan Company.
Endo International plc ENDP shares were also up, gaining 46% to $3.0650 after the company said it has settled three consolidated opioid cases pending in Suffolk County Supreme Court in the State of New York. As a result of the settlement, Endo has been severed from the trial.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. APLS shares tumbled 49% to $28.53 after the company reported mixed top-line results from the Phase 3 DERBY and OAKS studies evaluating intravitreal pegcetacoplan in 1,258 adults with geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration. The OAKS study met the primary endpoint for both monthly and every-other-month treatment with pegcetacoplan, demonstrating a significant reduction in GA lesion growth of 22% and 16%, respectively, compared to pooled sham at 12 months. However the DERBY study did not meet the primary endpoint of GA lesion growth, showing a reduction of 12% and 11%, with monthly and every-other-month treatment, respectively, compared to pooled sham at 12 months.
Shares of Lakeland Industries, Inc. LAKE were down 15% to $20.23 after reporting downbeat Q2 sales.
Impel NeuroPharma, Inc. IMPL was down, falling 20% to $16.98 after the company reported pricing of $45.0 million public offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 2.3% to $69.67, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,798.30.
Silver traded down 0.1% Friday to $24.145 while copper rose 4.3% to $4.4690.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.32%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.35% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.2%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.11%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.35% and Italy’s FTSE MIB slipped 0.87%.
French industrial production increased 0.3% in July, while Italy's industrial production rose 0.8% from a month ago in July. Annual consumer price inflation rate in Germany was confirmed at 3.9% in August.
The UK GDP expanded by 3.6% during the three months to July, while industrial production rose 1.2% in July. The UK trade deficit increased to GBP 3.1 billion in July from GBP 2.5 billion in the earlier month. Imports to the UK rose 1.1%, while exports slipped 0.1% from the previous month in July.
Economics
Producer prices for final demand rose 0.7% in August.
US wholesale inventories rose 0.6% month-over-month to $722 billion in July.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
