US Stocks Open Lower; Dow Drops Over 100 Points

U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Dow Jones dropping more than 100 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.37% to 29,927.92 while the NASDAQ fell 1.44% to 10,495.56. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.98% to 3,634.00.

Also check this: Market Volatility Declines Following US Inflation Data

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares fell by just 0.4% on Friday. Leading the sector was strength from Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RETA and Valneva SE VALN.

In trading on Friday, energy shares dipped by 2.9%.

Top Headline

US retail trade came in unchanged for September, missing market estimates for a 0.2% rise.

Equities Trading UP

• Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc. GEHI shares shot up 78% to $26.65.
• Shares of Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. ATXI got a boost, shooting 43% to $3.4806. Avenue Therapeutics recently priced a roughly 3.6 million unit offering at $3.30 per unit.
• IMARA Inc. IMRA shares were also up, gaining 35% to $3.47 after the company, along with Enliven Therapeutics, announced a merger agreement to combine the two companies in an all-stock transaction.

Equities Trading DOWN

• First Republic Bank FRC shares tumbled 17% to $112.18 after the company reported mixed Q3 results.
• Shares of ACM Research, Inc. ACMR were down 12% to $8.32. Shares of several companies in the broader technology sector traded lower amid a rise in treasury yields, which has pressured growth stocks.
• Fathom Holdings Inc. FTHM was down, falling 13% to $3.84.

Also check out: Why Otonomy Shares Dipped By Around 54%; Here Are 67 Biggest Movers From Yesterday

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.1% to $86.35, while gold traded down 1.2% at $1,656.30.

Silver traded down 2.7% to $18.415 on Friday while copper fell 0.3% to $3.4305.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.7%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.4%. The German DAX climbed 0.9%, French CAC 40 rose 1.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.9%.

The annual inflation rate in Spain fell to 8.9% in September from 10.5% in the prior month, while annual inflation rate in France eased to 5.6% in September from 5.9% in the previous month. Wholesale prices in Germany rose by 19.9% year-over-year in September.

Economics

• US retail trade came in unchanged for September, missing market estimates for a 0.2% rise.
• Import prices in the US fell by 1.2% from a month ago in September, while export prices dropped 0.8% in September.
• US business inventories increased 0.8% from a month ago in September.
• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment climbed to 59.8 in September, recording the highest level in six months, compared to 58.6 in the prior month.
• Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook will speak at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out this: Investor Fear Eases Slightly As Dow Jumps Over 800 Points

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 98,779,940 cases with around 1,089,910 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,623,990 cases and 528,850 deaths, while France reported over 36,102,540 COVID-19 cases with 155,730 deaths. In total, there were at least 629,035,400 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,568,520 deaths.