Dow Surges 250 Points; Crude Oil Down Over 2%

U.S. stocks extended gains midway through trading, with the Dow Jones jumping more than 250 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.77% to 33,594.45 while the NASDAQ rose 1.38% to 12,956.24. The S&P also rose, gaining, 1.03% to 4,250.55.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 1.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Embark Technology, Inc. EMBK, up 114% and Everspin Technologies, Inc. MRAM up 33%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 0.2%.

Top Headline

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose to 55.1 in August from 51.5 in July, also topping market estimates of 52.5, according to preliminary reading. Inflation expectations for the year ahead fell to 5% from 5.2%.

 

Equities Trading UP

Twin Vee Powercats Co. VEEE shares shot up 56% to $6.23 after the company said Q2 sales results were up year over year.

Shares of Unity Biotechnology, Inc. UBX got a boost, shooting 72% to $1.46 after the company announced positive 12 and 18-week data from its Phase 2 BEHOLD study of UBX1325 in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Embark Technology, Inc. EMBK shares were also up, gaining 115% to $1.2450 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS results.

Equities Trading DOWN

CS Disco, Inc. LAW shares tumbled 54% to $13.46 after the company reported Q2 earnings and issued weak Q3 guidance.

Shares of PLx Pharma Inc. PLXP were down 41% to $1.52. PLx Pharma posted a Q2 loss of $0.52 per share.

Performance Shipping Inc. PSHG was down, falling 46% to $0.3344 after the company priced its 33 million share offering at $0.45 per share.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.4% to $92.08, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,812.00.

Silver traded up 0.8% to $20.51 on Friday while copper fell 1.2% to $3.6625.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.16%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.47% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.24%. The German DAX gained 0.74%, French CAC 40 rose 0.14% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.49%.

The British economy shrank 0.6% month-over-month in June following a revised 0.4% increase in May. Imports to the UK declined 0.4% from the previous month, while exports dropped by 4.2% in June. Industrial production in the UK fell by 0.9% from a month ago in June, while trade deficit increased to GBP 11.387 billion in June from a revised GBP 9.119 billion gap a month ago.

The annual inflation rate in France increased to 6.1% in July from 5.8% in the previous month, while unemployment rate rose to 7.4% in the second quarter from 7.3% in the earlier quarter.

 

Economics

 

Import prices in the US dropped by 1.4% from a month ago in July following a revised 0.3% increase in the prior month. US export prices fell by 3.3% following a 0.7% increase in June.

 

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose to 55.1 in August from 51.5 in July, also topping market estimates of 52.5, according to preliminary reading. Inflation expectations for the year ahead fell to 5% from 5.2%.

 

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 94,479,770 cases with around 1,061,340 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,223,550 cases and 526,920 deaths, while France reported over 34,169,280 COVID-19 cases with 152,990 deaths. In total, there were at least 593,479,280 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,449,180 deaths.