Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; US Economy Adds Just 199,000 Jobs In December

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.06% to 36,216.38 while the NASDAQ rose 0.33% to 15,131.37. The S&P also rose, gaining, 0.10% to 4,700.67.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 59,564,110 cases with around 855,840 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 35,226,380 cases and 483,170 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,395,320 COVID-19 cases with 619,730 deaths. In total, there were at least 301,006,860 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,491,880 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financials shares climbed 0.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Norwood Financial Corp. NWFL, up 8% and Futu Holdings Limited FUTU up 8%.

In trading on Friday, health care shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

The US economy added just 199,000 jobs in December, well below analysts’ estimates of 422,000. The unemployment rate, however, dropped to 3.9%, the lowest since February 2020. Wage growth was 4.7%, down slightly from 4.7% in November.

 

Equities Trading UP

Marin Software Incorporated MRIN shares shot up 36% to $4.6822 after the company announced an integration with Amazon Ads' demand-side platform.

Shares of Absci Corporation ABSI got a boost, shooting 31% to $8.04 after the company announced a research collaboration with Merck.

Singularity Future Technology Ltd. SGLY shares were also up, gaining 26% to $5.30.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Siyata Mobile Inc. SYTA shares tumbled 42% to $1.8499 after the company announced pricing of a $20 million underwritten public offering.

Shares of Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc. NES were down 16% to $2.3780.

Digital Brands Group, Inc. DBGI was down, falling 16% to $2.2099. DBGI said it sees Q4 revenue in line with prior forecast of $4 million. The company also expects fiscal year 2021 net revenue to increase 44% to $7.6 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $79.98, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,790.90.

Silver traded down 0.1% Friday to $22.16 while copper rose 0.2% to $4.3630.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.5%. The German DAX dropped 0.2%, French CAC 40 declined 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.5%.

French current account deficit widened to EUR 3.6 billion in November from a revised EUR 2.5 billion gap in the prior month, while trade deficit increased to EUR 9.73 billion from EUR 7.70 billion. France's industrial production dropped 0.4% in November.

German trade surplus shrank to €12 billion in November from €16.8 billion in the year-ago period, while current account surplus fell to EUR 18.9 billion from EUR 21.7 billion. Industrial production in Germany fell 0.2% from a month ago in November. The Halifax house price index in the UK surged 9.8% year-over-year in December.

Economics

The US economy added just 199,000 jobs in December, well below analysts’ estimates of 422,000. The unemployment rate, however, dropped to 3.9%, the lowest since February 2020. Wage growth was 4.7%, down slightly from 4.7% in November.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. ET.

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

Data on consumer credit for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here