Gold Gains Over 1%; NIO Shares Slide

U.S. stocks traded mostly higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 150 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.12% to 39,354.34 while the NASDAQ rose 0.89% to 18,349.85. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.49% to 5,564.29.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares jumped by 2.3% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 1.8%.

Top Headline

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 206,000 last month, slowing down by 12,000 from May, but above economist expectations of 189,000, with predictions ranging from 150,000 to 237,000.

The unemployment rate ticked slightly higher from 4% to 4.1% against expectations of an unchanged reading. Average hourly earnings advanced by 0.3% on month-on-month basis, decelerating from May's 0.4%, in line with expectations.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Koss Corporation KOSS shares shot up 28% to $13.62, possibly on continued retail investor interest.
• Shares of Macy’s, Inc. M got a boost, surging 10% to $19.74. An investor group aiming to purchase Macy's has reportedly increased its bid for the second time after previous offers failed. Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management recently raised their proposal by approximately $300 million, reported The Wall Street Journal.
• Sharps Technology, Inc. STSS shares were also up, gaining 11% to $0.2550. On Wednesday, the medical device and pharmaceutical packaging company received two purchase orders for approximately 1 million SecureGard ultra-low waste smart safety syringes produced at Sharps' manufacturing facility in Hungary.

Equities Trading DOWN

• NIO Inc. NIO shares dropped 6% to $4.5750 after the company disclosed that Steven Wei Feng has resigned as the Chief Financial Officer for personal and family reasons, effective July 5, 2024.
• Shares of Eshallgo Inc. EHGO were down 12% to $2.30. Eshallgo closed $5 million initial public offering at $4 per share.
• XPeng Inc. XPEV was down, falling 7% to $7.72. The company announced vehicle delivery figures for June and the first half of 2024 on Monday.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $83.52 while gold traded up 1.3% at $2,400.60.

Silver traded up 2.2% to $31.525 on Friday, while copper rose 2.6% to $4.6525.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.18%, Germany's DAX rose 0.14% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.26%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.39%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.45%.

Retail sales in the Eurozone rose 0.1% month-over-month in compared to a revised 0.2% decline in April. UK's Halifax House Price Index rose 1.6% year-over-year in June, while French trade deficit increased to €8 billion in May versus a revised €7.5 billion in the prior month. German industrial production fell by 2.5% month-over-month for May.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 0.01%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declining 1.27%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.26% and India's S&P BSE Sensex declining 0.07%.

The index of leading economic indicators in Japan rose to 111.1 in May from 110.9 in the earlier month, while index of coincident economic indicators increased to 116.5 from115.2. Household spending in Japan fell by 1.8% year-over-year in May.

Economics

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 206,000 last month, slowing down by 12,000 from May, but above economist expectations of 189,000, with predictions ranging from 150,000 to 237,000.

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