Crude Oil Down 1% Following PCE Data; Blue Apron Shares Surge

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 100 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.13% to 33,710.74 while the NASDAQ rose 0.99% to 13,331.54. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.50% to 4,321.11.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose by 1.4% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 1.9%.

 

Top Headline

The headline PCE price index increased from an upwardly revised 3.4% in July to 3.5% year-on-year in August 2023, matching the expected 3.5% and marking the second consecutive monthly rise. Excluding energy and food items from the basket, the core PCE price index dropped from 4.2% in July to 3.9% year-on-year in August, as expected.

 

Equities Trading UP

Novo Integrated Sciences, Inc. NVOS shares shot up 58% to $0.3181 after the company announced it signed a One Billion Dollar Master Collateral Transfer Agreement with Blacksheep Trust for the purpose and general use of monetization for a period of up to 15 years..

Shares of Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. APRN got a boost, shooting 133% to $12.81 after the company announced an agreement to be acquired by Wonder Group for $13 per share.

OpGen, Inc. OPGN shares were also up, gaining 94% to $0.39 after the company requested to withdraw its registration statement on Form S-1.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

The Glimpse Group, Inc. VRAR shares dropped 42% to $1.8850 after the company reported FY23 financial results.

Shares of Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. CAPR were down 41% to $3.4350 after the company announced a $23 million registered direct offering.

EBET, Inc. EBET was down, falling 26% to $0.0381 after the company announced a 1-for-30 reverse stock split.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.1% to $90.66 while gold traded down 0.1% at $1,877.80.

Silver traded up 0.7% to $22.895 on Friday while copper rose 0.9% to $3.7420.

 

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.7% London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.47% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.2% The German DAX rose 0.76% French CAC 40 rose 0.66%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.6%.

The inflation rate in the Eurozone eased to 4.3% year-over-year in September, versus the market estimates of 4.5%. French consumer price inflation was steady at 4.9% year-over-year in September, while producer prices in its domestic markets rose 0.6% month-over-month in August. German jobless rate came in steady for the third straight month at 5.7% for September, while retail sales in the country fell by 1.2% month-over-month in August.

Spain recorded a current account surplus of EUR 4,270 million in July versus a year-ago surplus of EUR 2,027 million. The gross domestic product in the UK increased by 0.6% year-over-year in the second quarter, while consumer credit in the UK increased by £1.644 billion in August versus a revised £1.271 billion rise in July. The current account gap in the UK increased to £25.3 billion in the second quarter of versus a revised £15.2 billion gap in the prior period.

 

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.05% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 2.51%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.4%.

Retail sales in Hong Kong eased to 11% year-over-year in August versus a revised 14.2% rise in the prior month. Japan's housing starts fell by 9.4% year-over-year in August, while consumer confidence index fell to a six-month low level of 35.2 in September. Retail sales in Japan climbed 7% year-over-year in August, while industrial production came in flat from the previous month in August.

 

Economics

The headline PCE price index increased from an upwardly revised 3.4% in July to 3.5% year-on-year in August 2023, matching the expected 3.5% and marking the second consecutive monthly rise. Excluding energy and food items from the basket, the core PCE price index dropped from 4.2% in July to 3.9% year-on-year in August, as expected.

Wholesale inventories in the U.S. fell by 0.1% month-over-month in August versus a 0.2% decline in the previous month.

Personal spending in the U.S. rose 0.4% month-over-month in August, while personal income increased by 0.4% in August.

The Chicago PMI declined to 44.1 in September from 48.7 in August.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment was revised higher to 68.1 in September from a preliminary reading of 67.7.

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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 108,706,440 cases with around 1,176,770 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,998,700 cases and 531,930 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 695,936,210 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,920,990 deaths.