US Stocks Mostly Lower; Nasdaq Down 50 Points

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping around 50 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.03% to 33,777.38 while the NASDAQ fell 0.43% to 12,008.96. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.18% to 4,122.44.

Check This Out: Top 4 Tech And Telecom Stocks That May Plunge In Q2

Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Consumer staples shares rose by 0.7% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Steakholder Foods Ltd. STKH, up 5%, and The Procter & Gamble Company PG, up 4%.
• In trading on Friday, information technology shares dipped by 0.9%.

Top Headline

The S&P Global US manufacturing PMI rose to 50.4 in April from 49.2 in the previous month, beating market estimates of 49. The S&P Global composite PMI climbed to 53.5 in April from 52.3 a month ago.

Equities Trading UP

• Wang & Lee Group, Inc. WLGS shares shot up 43% to $4.44 after dropping 38% on Thursday. WANG & LEE GROUP priced its initial public offering of 1,600,000 shares at a price of $5.00 per share.
• Shares of ContextLogic Inc. WISH got a boost, shooting 39% to $9.95 after the company announced a $50 million buyback program.
• EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. EYPT shares were also up, gaining 35% to $7.67 after Baird initiated coverage on the stock with an Outperform rating and a $33 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

• U Power Limited UCAR shares dropped 40% to $25.70 amid post-IPO volatility. U Power priced its 2,416,667 share IPO at $6 per share.
• Shares of Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. OCUP were down 20% to $4.9350 after the company appointed Rick Rodgers as interim CEO and President.
• Dermata Therapeutics, Inc. DRMA was down, falling 11% to $2.54.
• Dermata Therapeutics, on Thursday, announced it received a response from the FDA regarding its Type C CMC meeting. The FDA's response stated that the company has provided documentation of its CMC procedures and controls sufficient to support the initiation of Phase 3 studies.

Also Check This Out: Bitcoin, Ethereum Record Losses; Render Token, Dogecoin Among Top Losers

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $77.94 while gold traded down 1.5% at $1,988.80

Silver traded down 1.1% to $25.09 on Friday while copper fell 1.1% to $3.9805.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.6%. The German DAX rose 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.1%.

The HCOB Eurozone services PMI climbed to 56.6 in April versus 55 in March, while manufacturing PMI declined to 45.5 from 47.3. The HCBO France composite PMI climbed to 53.8 in April from 52.7 in the prior month, while German composite PMI increased to 53.9 from 52.6.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI rose to 54.9 in April, the highest in a year, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 46.6 in April from 47.9 a month ago. Retail sales in the UK fell by 0.9% month-over-month in March.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 0.33%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 1.57% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index declining 1.95%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.1%.

The business confidence indicator in Hong Kong rose to +15 during the second quarter, compared to +6 in the prior period, while annual inflation rate in Hong Kong came in unchanged at 1.7% in March.

The core consumer price index in Japan increased 3.1% from a year ago in March. Japan’s Services PMI fell to 54.9 in April from a final reading of 55.0 a month ago, while manufacturing PMI rose to 49.5 from 49.2.

Economics

• The S&P Global US manufacturing PMI rose to 50.4 in April from 49.2 in the previous month, beating market estimates of 49.
• The S&P Global composite PMI climbed to 53.5 in April from 52.3 a month ago.

Now Read This: $59M Bet On This Biotechnology Stock? Check Out These 4 Stocks Insiders Are Buying

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 106,524,160 cases with around 1,158,840 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,869,680 cases and 531,250 deaths, while France reported over 39,931,040 COVID-19 cases with 166,160 deaths. In total, there were at least 686,241,210 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,858,390 deaths.