Dow Dips Over 250 Points; Genesco Shares Plunge After Q4 Results

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling over 1% on Friday.

The Dow traded down 0.65% to 42,302.29 while the NASDAQ dipped 1.16% to 17,860.03. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.90% to 5,686.92.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 1.6% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, financial shares dipped by 1.4%.

Top Headline

The February jobs report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, released Friday, showed a moderate increase in employment and also a slight increase in the unemployment rate.

The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February, up from a downwardly revised 125,000 in January, but below expectations of 160,000, as tracked by Trading Economics. The unemployment rate ticked unexpectedly higher to 4.1%, above the 4.0% expected.

Equities Trading UP

Willdan Group, Inc. WLDN shares shot up 19% to $38.46 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY25 guidance above estimates.
Shares of SUNation Energy Inc. SUNEgot a boost, surging 136% to $0.4176. SUNation Energy named James Brennan to fill the role of CFO, effective immediately, in addition to his role serving as COO.
American Public Education, Inc. APEI shares were also up, gaining 18% to $22.62 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Genesco Inc. GCO shares dropped 22% to $25.16 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.
Shares of Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACXP were down 29% to $0.4601 after the company announced a $1.1 million registered direct offering.
BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. BBAI was down, falling 21% to $3.3250 after the company reported downbeat quarterly financial results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $66.95 while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,937.80.

Silver traded down 0.8% to $33.075 on Friday, while copper fell 0.5% to $4.7815.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.40%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 1.60% and France's CAC 40 dipped 1.05%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.01%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.03%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei dipping 2.17%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.25% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.57%, India's BSE Sensex falling 0.01%.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February, up from a downwardly revised 125,000 in January, but below expectations of 160,000, as tracked by Trading Economics.
The unemployment rate ticked unexpectedly higher to 4.1%, above the 4.0% expected.
Average hourly earnings for all employees increased by 0.3% to $35.93, representing a 4.0% increase over the past 12 months.

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