Nasdaq Jumps 200 Points; Procter & Gamble Posts Upbeat Earnings

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 200 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.39% to 35,419.43 while the NASDAQ rose 1.57% to 14,271.37. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.84% to 4,575.45.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Communication services shares climbed by 1.8% on Friday.
• In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 0.5%.

Top Headline

Procter & Gamble Co PG reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Procter & Gamble reported fourth-quarter FY23 sales growth of 5% year-on-year to $20.55 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $19.98 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.37 beat the analyst consensus of $1.32.

P&G sees FY24 organic sales growth of 4%-5% and all-in sales growth of 3%-4%. P&G sees FY24 EPS of $6.25-$6.43 versus the consensus of $6.38.

Equities Trading UP

• Unique Fabricating, Inc. UFAB shares shot up 111% to $0.4566 after gaining 12% on Thursday.
• Shares of Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RETA got a boost, shooting 53% to $165.76 after Biogen agreed to acquire the company.
• Bluejay Diagnostics, Inc. BJDX shares were also up, gaining 51% to $8.10.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. TNXP shares dropped 39% to $1.08. Tonix Pharmaceuticals priced public offering of 7 million common shares at $1 per share.
• Shares of Sleep Number Corporation SNBR were down 31% to $26.65 after the company reported mixed second-quarter results.
• Mallinckrodt plc MNK was down, falling 20% to $1.2950 after jumping over 28% on Thursday.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $80.13 while gold traded up 0.4% at $1,954.00.

Silver traded up 0.2% to $24.42 on Friday while copper rose 0.6% to $3.8970.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index slipped 0.1% The German DAX gained 0.1% French CAC 40 slipped 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.3%.

The services confidence indicator in the Eurozone fell for a third straight month to a reading of 5.7 in July, while industry confidence indicator fell for a sixth consecutive month to -9.4 in July. The consumer confidence indicator in the Eurozone increased by 1 point to -15.1 in July, while economic sentiment indicator fell for a third month in a row to 94.5.

The Germany’s economy stalled in the second quarter, compared to market expectations for a 0.1% growth, while Spanish economy expanded by 0.4% on the quarter in the second quarter. The consumer price inflation in France slowed to 4.3% year-over-year in July from 4.5% in the prior month, while producer prices fell 1.1% month-over-month in June.

Industrial sales in Italy increased by 1.5% from the prior month in May, the most since Aug. 2022, while industrial producer prices declined by 5.5% year-over-year in June.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.40%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.84% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 1.41%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, fell 0.2%.

The Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rate at -0.1%. Australia's final demand producer price index rose by 0.5% quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter, while retail sales fell by 0.8% month-over-month in June.

Economics

• Personal income in the U.S. increased by 0.3% from the prior month in June, while personal spending rose by 0.5%.
• Compensation costs for civilian workers rose by 1.0% during the second quarter, versus a 1.2% growth in the prior three-month period.
• The PCE price index rose 0.2% month-over-month in June versus a 0.1% increase in May. Core PCE prices rose by 0.2% month-over-month in June easing from a 0.3% increase in the earlier month. The annual rate, which is the Fed’s preferred gauge for inflation, increased by 4.1%.

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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 107,505,310 cases with around 1,169,770 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,995,430 cases and 531,910 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 692,178,100 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,903,050 deaths.