Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Down; Nasdaq Falls 100 Points

U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping around 100 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.30% to 33,816.14 while the NASDAQ fell 0.82% to 12,766.29. The S&P also fell, dropping, 0.74% to 4,255.95.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares rose by 0.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Olin Corporation OLN, up 13% and Clearwater Paper Corporation CLW up 19%.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell 2.9%.

Top Headline

Apple Inc. AAPL reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal second quarter on Thursday.

Apple reported fiscal year second-quarter earnings of $1.52 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.43. This compares to the year-ago EPS of $1.40 per share and the previous quarter's $2.10. Revenue climbed 9% year-over-year from $89.6 billion to $97.3 billion. Analysts, on average, estimated revenue of $93.89 billion.

 

Equities Trading UP

GTY Technology Holdings Inc. GTYH shares shot up 118% to $6.18 as the company agreed to be acquired by GI Partners.

Shares of Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc. FNCH got a boost, shooting 54% to $3.24. The FDA has removed the clinical hold on Finch Therapeutics Group’s investigational new drug application for CP101, an orally administered microbiome therapeutic, which is in Phase 3 study for recurrent C. difficile infection.

Zymeworks Inc. ZYME shares were also up, gaining 48% to $7.36. Zymeworks confirmed it received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from All Blue Falcons FZE and its affiliates to purchase the company for $10.50 per share. The Zymeworks board of directors will carefully review the proposal.

Equities Trading DOWN

Accolade, Inc. ACCD shares tumbled 53% to $5.25 after the company reported Q4 earnings results and issued Q1 sales guidance below analyst estimates.

Shares of LianBio LIAN were down 16% to $4.24. LianBio highlighted that its partner, Bristol Myers, announced the FDA approval for Camzyos.

Aldeyra Therapeutics, Inc. ALDX was down, falling 15% to $3.10. Aldeyra Therapeutics CFO and Treasurer Joshua Reed tendered his resignation to pursue other career opportunities.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $106.51, while gold traded up 1% to $1,909.50.

Silver traded down 0.4% Friday to $23.09 while copper fell 0.1% to $4.4330.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.8%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.7%. The German DAX climbed 0.8%, French CAC 40 rose 0.5% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.7%.

The Eurozone economy grew by 0.2% on quarter during the first three months of the year, while annual inflation rate increased to a fresh record high of 7.5% in April. The annual inflation rate in Italy eased to 6.2% percent in April from the 31-year high level of 6.5% in the prior month, while GDP contracted by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter during the three months to March of 2022.

German GDP expanded 0.2% on quarter, while Spanish economy expanded 0.3% on the quarter in the first three months of 2022. Producer prices in France increased 4.3% month-over-month in March, while the country’s economy showed no growth in Q1. UK’s nationwide House Price Index rose 12.1% year-over-year in April.

Economics

Personal income in the US rose 0.5% from a month ago in March, while personal spending increased 1.1% in March. The personal consumption expenditure price index surged 6.6% year-over-year in March.

The employment cost index rose 1.4% quarter-over-quarter during the first three months of 2022.

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

Data on farm prices for March will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 82,954,760 cases with around 1,020,150 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,072,480 cases and 523,750 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,418,920 COVID-19 cases with 663,280 deaths. In total, there were at least 512,303,880 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,256,900 deaths.