Nasdaq Gains 1%; Intuit Shares Plunge

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 1% on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.25% to 39,163.18 while the NASDAQ rose 1.04% to 16,909.33. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.69% to 5,304.30.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares jumped by 1.1% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, health care shares fell by 0.1%.

Top Headline

Shares of Intuit Inc. INTU fell around 8% on Friday following third-quarter results.

The company posted better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and boosted its full-year outlook. However, the company issued weak earnings guidance for the current quarter.

Intuit’s third-quarter revenue increased 12% year-over-year to $6.737 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $6.647 billion. The financial technology platform company reported adjusted earnings of $9.88 per share, beating analyst estimates of $9.37 per share, according to Benzinga Pro.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Akanda Corp. AKAN shares shot up 70% to $4.0555. The international medical cannabis company implemented a 1-for-40 reverse stock split on its ordinary shares effective May 23, 2024, according to a recent exchange filing.
• Shares of Merus N.V. MRUS got a boost, surging 37% to $60.37 after the company announced the publication of an abstract regarding petosemtamab in combination with pembrolizumab on the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting website.
• Deckers Outdoor Corporation DECK shares were also up, gaining 13% to $1,018.75 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Verastem, Inc. VSTM shares dropped 61% to $4.70. The company announced that it initiated the rolling submission of a NDA to the FDA for accelerated approval of the combination of avutometinib and defactinib for adult patients with recurrent KRAS mutant low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
• Shares of TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc. TLSI were down 26% to $7.10. TriSalus Life Sciences announced commencement of exchange offer and consent solicitation relating to warrants.
• Genelux Corporation GNLX was down, falling 45% to $2.5889 after the company reported pricing of approximately $27.5 million underwritten offering of common stock and accompanying warrants.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $77.52 while gold traded up 0.1% at $2,340.40.

Silver traded up 0.7% to $30.665 on Friday, while copper rose 0.1% to $4.7965.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.30%, Germany's DAX declined 0.30% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.22%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.70%, while London's FTSE 100 declined 0.14%.

Producer prices in Spain declined by 6.6% year-over-year in April compared to an 8.2% fall in March. The manufacturing climate indicator in France declined to a reading of 99 in May. German economy grew by 0.2% quarter-over-quarter in the three months to March versus a 0.5% contraction in the prior period. Retail sales in the UK fell 2.3% month-over-month for April versus a revised 0.2% decline a month ago.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 1.17%, China's Composite Index declining 0.88%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.38% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.1%.

The annual inflation rate in Japan eased to 2.5% in April versus 2.7%, while core consumer price index in Japan increased 2.2% year-over-year in April versus a 2.6% rise in the prior month.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders increased by 0.7% month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.8% gain in March. However, markets were expecting for a 0.8% decrease.

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