Dow Surges 50 Points; US Durable Goods Orders Increase In April

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 50 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.14% to 39,121.86 while the NASDAQ rose 0.39% to 16,801.18. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.35% to 5,286.08.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares jumped by 0.7% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, health care shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

U.S. durable goods orders increased by 0.7% month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.8% gain in March. However, markets were expecting for a 0.8% decrease.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Akanda Corp. AKAN shares shot up 103% to $4.8598. The international medical cannabis company implemented a 1-for-40 reverse stock split on its ordinary shares effective May 23, 2024, according to a recent exchange filing.
• Shares of Netcapital Inc. NCPL got a boost, surging 63% to $0.2836 after jumping 15% on Thursday.
• Better Choice Company Inc. BTTR shares were also up, gaining 64% to $6.71.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Verastem, Inc. VSTM shares dropped 59% to $5.05. The company announced that it initiated the rolling submission of a NDA to the FDA for accelerated approval of the combination of avutometinib and defactinib for adult patients with recurrent KRAS mutant low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
• Shares of Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc. SNSE were down 47% to $0.78. Sensei Biotherapeutics presented clinical data from Phase 1 dose escalation study of SNS-101.
• Genelux Corporation GNLX was down, falling 39% to $2.79 after the company reported pricing of approximately $27.5 million underwritten offering of common stock and accompanying warrants.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $76.88 while gold traded up 0.2% at $2,340.80.

Silver traded up 0.7% to $30.68 on Friday, while copper fell 0.4% to $4.7750.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.6%, Germany's DAX declined 0.4% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.9%, while London's FTSE 100 declined 0.4%.

Producer prices in Spain declined by 6.6% year-over-year in April compared to an 8.2% fall in March. The manufacturing climate indicator in France declined to a reading of 99 in May. German economy grew by 0.2% quarter-over-quarter in the three months to March versus a 0.5% contraction in the prior period. Retail sales in the UK fell 2.3% month-over-month for April versus a revised 0.2% decline a month ago.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 1.17%, China's Composite Index declining 0.88%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.38% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.1%.

The annual inflation rate in Japan eased to 2.5% in April versus 2.7%, while core consumer price index in Japan increased 2.2% year-over-year in April versus a 2.6% rise in the prior month.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders increased by 0.7% month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.8% gain in March. However, markets were expecting for a 0.8% decrease.

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