Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; US Adds 225,000 Jobs For January

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.65% to 29189.16 while the NASDAQ fell 0.59% to 9516.79. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.57% to 3,326.60.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.2% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ellomay Capital Ltd. ELLO, up 3%, and Black Hills Corporation BKH, up 2%.

In trading on Friday, material shares fell 0.9%.

Top Headline

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released employment data for the month of January, and the jobs report came in above economists’ expectations.

The nonfarm payroll number came in at +225,000, well above consensus economist expectations of +158,000.

The unemployment rate increased 0.1% to 3.6%, but the labor participation rate also increased 0.2% to 63.4%, its highest level since 2013. The so-called “real” unemployment rate, which factors in those out of the workforce and those who are underemployed, increased 0.2% to 6.9%.

Equities Trading UP

Assertio Therapeutics, Inc. ASRT shares shot up 50% to $1.5575. Assertio Therapeutics said it has entered into a definitive agreement with Collegium Pharmaceutical to sell its Nucynta franchise products for $375 million in cash at closing, less royalties received by it in 2020.

Shares of Telenav, Inc. TNAV got a boost, shooting 31% to $6.23 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results.

Bill.com Holdings, Inc. BILL shares were also up, gaining 20% to $58.00 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zogenix, Inc. ZGNX shares tumbled 30% to $36.87 after the company reported mixed topline results for a Phase 3 study, dubbed Study 1601, evaluating its lead investigational therapy Fintepla in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, or LGS, a severe treatment-resistant childhood-onset epilepsy. The company announced a secondary endpoint in its Phase 3 trial of FINTEPLA did not reach statistical significance. Ladenburg Thalmann downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and lowered its price target from $60 to $35 per share.

Shares of Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SLRX were down 55% to $0.8953 after the company priced its $9.6 million offering.

Myriad Genetics, Inc. MYGN was down, falling 30% to $20.43 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also reported the President and CEO, Mark Capone, resigned.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8% to $50.55, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,569.70.

Silver traded down 0.6% Friday to $17.72, while copper fell 1.2% to $2.561.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.1% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.6%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.3% while UK shares fell 0.7%.

Economics

The nonfarm payroll number came in at +225,000, well above consensus economist expectations of +158,000. The unemployment rate increased 0.1% to 3.6%.

US wholesale inventories declined 0.2% in December, versus a 0.1% increase in November.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for December will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.