Crude Oil Down 2%; Argan Shares Spike Higher

U.S. stocks traded lower toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 400 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 1.07% to 40,320.42 while the NASDAQ fell 2.61% to 16,680.93. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.80% to 5,404.31.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares slipped by just 0.1% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, communication services shares dipped by 2.8%.

Top Headline

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs came in unchanged at 483 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• BloomZ Inc. BLMZ shares shot up 113% to $1.7250 after the company announced it entered into a business agreement with CrossVision for joint entertainment offerings.
• Shares of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. WHLR got a boost, surging 119% to $9.08 after the company and its subsidiary, Cedar Realty Trust, announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a 2023 order dismissing a putative class action complaint filed against the company and Cedar by purported holders of Cedar’s preferred stock.
• Argan, Inc. AGX shares were also up, gaining 25% to $89.22 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Braze, Inc. BRZE shares dropped 18% to $36.14 after the company reported quarterly financial results.
• Shares of Planet Labs PBC PL were down 27% to $1.8050 after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter sales results. Also, Needham maintained a Buy rating on the stock but lowered its price target from $7 to $5.
• Genesco Inc. GCO was down, falling 12% to $26.01 following second-quarter results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2% to $67.74 while gold traded down 0.8% at $2,523.00.

Silver traded down 3% to $28.22 on Friday, while copper fell 1.7% to $4.0665.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dipped 1.07%, Germany's DAX fell 1.1483% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.07%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.89%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.73%.

The GDP in the Eurozone grew by 0.2% on quarter during the second quarter. The number of employed persons in the Eurozone increased by 0.2% from the prior quarter during the three months to June.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.72%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.81% and India's BSE Sensex falling 1.24%.

Foreign exchange reserves held by the Reserve Bank of India jumped to $684 billion as of Aug. 30, 2024.

Economics

• The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in August versus a revised 89,000 gain in July, but down from market estimates of 160,000.
• The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in August from 4.3% in the previous month.
• Average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 0.4% to $35.21 in August compared to a 0.2% gain in July.
• The total number of active U.S. oil rigs came in unchanged at 483 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

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