Nasdaq Dips Over 300 Points; Crude Oil Rises Sharply

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 300 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 1.64% to 29,435.14 while the NASDAQ fell 3% to 10,741.38. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 2.17% to 3,663.23.

Also check this: Dow Dips Over 300 Points, Volatility In Markets Increases

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped by 0.8% on Friday. Leading the sector was strength from TransGlobe Energy Corporation TGA and Nine Energy Service, Inc. NINE.

In trading on Friday, information technology shares fell by 3.4%.

Top Headline

The US economy added 263,000 jobs in September, the least since April 2021, but still above analysts’ estimates of 250,000. The US unemployment rate declined to 3.5% in September, while average hourly earnings rose 0.3% to $32.46 in September.

Equities Trading UP

• Innovative Eyewear, Inc. LUCY shares shot up 93% to $3.15 on abnormally-high volume. The company released its October investor presentation yesterday.
• Shares of Aehr Test Systems AEHR got a boost, shooting 19% to $16.50 after the company announced better-than-expected Q1 EPS and sales results and issued guidance.
• Plus Therapeutics, Inc. PSTV shares were also up, gaining 17% to $0.6370 after JonesTrading initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and $5 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. ATXI shares tumbled 57% to $2.68 after the company priced a roughly 3.6 million unit offering at $3.30 per unit.
• Shares of InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. NVIV were down 39% to $4.88 after the company announced $9 million registered direct and private placement offerings priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules.
• Bone Biologics Corporation BBLG was down, falling 34% to $0.59 after the company priced a 3,777,778 unit offering at $1.35 per unit.

Also check out: Why Cyclerion Therapeutics Shares Traded Lower By Around 38%; Here Are 70 Biggest Movers From Yesterday

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.2% to $91.32, while gold traded down 0.6% at $1,711.10.

Silver traded down 1.4% to $20.365 on Friday while copper fell 1.5% to $3.3945.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.01% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.83%. The German DAX dropped 1.25%, French CAC 40 fell 1.01% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.88%.

France recorded a current account deficit of EUR 5.1 billion in August versus a EUR 5.3 billion gap in the prior month, while trade deficit increased to EUR 15.3 billion in August from revised EUR 14.8 billion in July.

Labor productivity in the UK rose by 0.3% on quarter during the three months to June, while Halifax house price index rose 9.9% year-over-year in September. Industrial production in Germany declined 0.8% month-over-month in August, while retail sales fell 1.3% month-over-month in August. Import prices in Germany climbed by 32.7% year-over-year in August.

Economics

• The US economy added 263,000 jobs in September, the least since April 2021, but still above analysts’ estimates of 250,000. The US unemployment rate declined to 3.5% in September, while average hourly earnings rose 0.3% to $32.46 in September.
• Wholesale inventories rose by 1.3% from a month ago to $912.6 billion in August following a 0.6% increase in the prior month.
• 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 August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET. Consumer credit is projected to rise $25.0 billion in August following a $23.8 billion increase in the previous month.

Check out this: Investor Fear Increases Ahead Of US Jobs Data

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 98,474,750 cases with around 1,087,350 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,606,460 cases and 528,750 deaths, while France reported over 35,705,230 COVID-19 cases with 155,360 deaths. In total, there were at least 625,747,770 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,558,400 deaths.