Nasdaq Gains Over 50 Points; US Economy Adds 275,000 Jobs In February

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 50 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.04% to 38,805.52 while the NASDAQ rose 0.41% to 16,339.39. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.23% to 5,169.38.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

 

Real estate shares jumped by 0.7% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer staples shares fell by 1%.

 

Top Headline

 

Nonfarm payrolls beat economist estimates, coming at 275,000 in February compared to the expected 200,000. The unemployment rate rose from 3.7% to 3.9%, surprising estimates of 3.7%.

Average hourly wages grew at a 0.1% monthly pace in February, easing from the downwardly revised 0.5% growth in January, and below the expected 0.3%.

 

Equities Trading UP

 

Psyence Biomedical Ltd. PBM shares shot up 143% to $3.0831. Psyence Biomedical recently announced its subsidiary, Psyence Australia, received Human Research Ethics Committee approval to initiate its Phase IIb study.

Shares of Ainos, Inc. AIMD got a boost, surging 147% to $2.7650.

Safe and Green Development Corporation SGD shares were also up, gaining 85% to $1.2197 after the company announced financing for the Norman Berry Expansion in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

 

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMLX shares dropped 85% to $2.7650 after the company announced its PHOENIX phase 3 trial of AMX0035 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis did not meet its primary endpoint and there was no statistical significance seen in secondary endpoints.

Shares of Nexalin Technology, Inc. NXL were down 17% to $0.4499. Nexalin Technology recently announced results of a clinical study of its Gen-2 tACS device for the treatment of chronic insomnia.

BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. BBAI was down, falling 25% to $2.8099 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.

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Commodities

 

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.6% to $78.49 while gold traded up 0.7% at $2,179.70.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $24.585 on Friday while copper fell 0.4% to $3.9115.

 

Euro zone

 

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.2% The German DAX fell 0.1% French CAC 40 rose 0.2% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.2%.

The eurozone economy stagnated during the fourth quarter compared to a 0.1% decline in the prior three-month period. French trade deficit increased to €7.4 billion in January from €6.4 billion in the prior month. Spanish industrial output declined by 0.6% year-over-year in January. Producer prices in Germany declined by 4.4% year-over-year in January, while industrial output increased by 1.0% month-over-month for January.

 

Asia Pacific Markets

 

Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.23%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.76% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.61%.

The gauge for Japan’s service sector climbed to 51.3 in February versus prior month’s reading of 50.2. The index of leading economic indicators in Japan fell to 109.9 in January versus a revised reading of 110.5 in December, while index of coincident economic indicators fell to 110.2 in January versus a revised 116.0 in the previous month. Household spending in Japan dipped by 6.3% year-over-year in January.

 

Economics

 

Nonfarm payrolls beat economist estimates, coming at 275,000 in February compared to the expected 200,000.

The unemployment rate rose from 3.7% to 3.9%, surprising estimates of 3.7%.

Average hourly wages grew at a 0.1% monthly pace in February, easing from the downwardly revised 0.5% growth in January, and below the expected 0.3%.

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