Gold Down Over 1%; US Composite PMI Rises In April

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones dropping around 70 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 0.20% to 33,718.74 while the NASDAQ fell 0.33% to 12,019.40. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.24% to 4,119.79.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Consumer discretionary shares rose by 0.7% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included ContextLogic Inc. WISH, up 30%, and Mullen Automotive, Inc. MULN, up 19%.
• In trading on Friday, materials shares dipped by 1.3%.

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

• Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. ONTX shares shot up 46% to $1.03 after HC Wainwright upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and announced an $11 price target.
• Shares of ContextLogic Inc. WISH got a boost, shooting 30% to $9.36 after the company announced a $50 million buyback program.
• EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. EYPT shares were also up, gaining 47% to $8.35 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 60% to $17.42 amid post-IPO volatility. U Power priced its 2,416,667 share IPO at $6 per share.
• Shares of Sidus Space, Inc. SIDU were down 25% to $0.28 after the company reported pricing of $10 million public offering.
• Predictive Oncology Inc. POAI was down, falling 25% to $0.2062. Predictive Oncology reported a 1-for-20 reverse stock split, effective Apr. 24, 2023.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4% to $77.69 while gold traded down 1.4% at $1,990.10

Silver traded down 1.1% to $25.105 on Friday while copper fell 1% to $3.9860.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.15%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.01% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.69%. The German DAX rose 0.44%, French CAC 40 rose 0.27% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.26%.

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 services PMI rose to 53.7 in April from 52.6 in the previous month.
• The S&P Global composite PMI climbed to 53.5 in April from 52.3 a month ago.

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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 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.