Dow Tops 44,000; US Consumer Sentiment Increases In November

U.S. stocks traded mostly higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 250 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.62% to 44,001.69 while the NASDAQ fell 0.01% to 19,268.55. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.40% to 5,997.19.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares surged by 1.6% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, materials shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose to 73 in November, recording the highest reading in seven months, versus a reading of 70.5 in October and also topping market estimates of 71.

Equities Trading UP

Sezzle Inc. SEZL shares shot up 65% to $413.71 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in third-quarter financial results, raised its FY24 guidance, and issued FY25 adjusted EPS guidance above estimates.
Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. AAOI got a boost, surging 47% to $26.38 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue results.
indie Semiconductor, Inc. INDI shares were also up, gaining 46% to $5.02 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

ProPhase Labs, Inc. PRPH shares dropped 46% to $0.7752 after the company reported the pricing of public offering of common stock.
Shares of Evolent Health, Inc. EVH were down 43% to $13.94 after the company reported worse-than-expected third-quarter financial results.
Nature’s Miracle Holding Inc. NMHI was down, falling 34% to $0.0975 after the company announced a $3 million public offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.7% to $70.40 while gold traded down 0.4% at $2,695.00.

Silver traded down 1.2% to $31.470 on Friday, while copper fell 2.9% to $4.3015.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.65%, Germany's DAX fell 0.76% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.17%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.16%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.84%.

The trade gap in France increased to €8.3 billion in September versus a revised €7.7 billion gap in the previous month, while current account deficit increased to €2.1 billion in September.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.30%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.07%, China's Shanghai Composite Index dipping 0.53% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.07%.

Foreign exchange reserves held by the Reserve Bank of India declined to $682.1 billion as of Nov. 1. China reported a current account surplus of $149.6 billion during the third quarter compared to the $60.8 billion surplus in the year-ago period. Japan’s household spending declined by 1.1% year-over-year in September.

Economics

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose to 73 in November, recording the highest reading in seven months, versus a reading of 70.5 in October and also topping market estimates of 71.

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