Nasdaq Surges Over 2%; Fluor Posts Downbeat Earnings

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 250 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 1.55% to 33,642.02 while the NASDAQ rose 2.21% to 12,231.41. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 1.83% to 4,135.59.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Energy shares jumped by 3.1% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Enviva Inc. EVA, up 25%, and Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. CLMT, up 9%.
• In trading on Friday, utilities shares rose by just 0.4%.

Top Headline

Fluor Corporation FLR reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Fluor posted adjusted earnings of 28 cents per share, missing market expectations of 37 cents per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $3.75 billion versus estimates of $3.55 billion.

Equities Trading UP

• Nanobiotix S.A. NBTX shares shot up 247% to $6.93 after the company announced it is entering into final contract negotiations after agreement to a non-binding term sheet for development and commercialization of NBTXR3 with a major global pharmaceutical company.
• Shares of PacWest Bancorp PACW got a boost, shooting 85% to $5.88 amid a possible rebound after the stock fell over 50% following reports that the bank may explore strategic options. The company issued an update confirming reports, and stated discussions are ongoing as the bank evaluates all options to maximize shareholder value.
• Owens & Minor, Inc. OMI shares were also up, gaining 38% to $18.70 after the company said Q1 sales results were higher year over year.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Soligenix, Inc. SNGX shares dropped 50% to $1.13. Soligenix priced its 6,538,500 share public offering at $1.30 per share.
• Shares of DermTech, Inc. DMTK were down 28% to $2.2684 after the company reported wider-than-expected quarterly loss.
• Air Transport Services Group, Inc. ATSG was down, falling 25% to $14.92 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 adjusted EPS and sales results. Also, the company issued FY23 adjusted EPS guidance below analyst estimates.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.9% to $71.20 while gold traded down 1.6% at $2,023.00

Silver traded down 1.3% to $25.875 on Friday while copper rose 0.6% to $3.8860.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.08%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.98% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1.15% The German DAX rose 1.44%, French CAC 40 rose 1.26% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 2.54%.

Retail sales in the Eurozone dropped 1.2% month-over-month in March versus a 0.2% decline in February. The HCOB Eurozone construction PMI rose slightly to 45.2 in April from 45 in the prior month.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK construction PMI rose to 51.1 in April from 50.7 a month ago, while Italian construction PMI climbed to 49 from 47.4. French construction PMI rose to 46 in April from 45.3 in March, while German construction PMI declined to 42.0 in April from 42.9.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.50% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropping 0.48%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.1%.

Foreign exchange reserves in Hong Kong fell to $427.4 billion in April, the lowest level since December 2022. The Caixin China General Services PMI fell to 56.4 in April from March’s reading of 57.8.

Economics

• The US economy added 253,000 jobs in April, beating market expectations of 180,000 and versus a revised 165,000 gain in March. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in April, versus market expectations of 3.6%. Average hourly earnings increased by 0.5% to $33.36 in April.
• The total number of active U.S. oil rigs fell by 3 to 588 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

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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 106,762,790 cases with around 1,162,400 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,960,670 cases and 531,600 deaths, while France reported over 40,007,280 COVID-19 cases with 166,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 687,576,650 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,869,690 deaths.