Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; US Economy Adds Just 199,000 Jobs In December

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.06% to 36,216.38 while the NASDAQ rose 0.33% to 15,131.37. The S&P also rose, gaining, 0.10% to 4,700.67.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 59,564,110 cases with around 855,840 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 35,226,380 cases and 483,170 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,395,320 COVID-19 cases with 619,730 deaths. In total, there were at least 301,006,860 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,491,880 deaths.


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Financials shares climbed 0.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Norwood Financial Corp. NWFL, up 8% and Futu Holdings Limited FUTU up 8%.


In trading on Friday, health care shares fell 0.5%.


Top Headline


The US economy added just 199,000 jobs in December, well below analysts’ estimates of 422,000. The unemployment rate, however, dropped to 3.9%, the lowest since February 2020. Wage growth was 4.7%, down slightly from 4.7% in November.

 

Equities Trading UP


Marin Software Incorporated MRIN shares shot up 36% to $4.6822 after the company announced an integration with Amazon Ads' demand-side platform.


Shares of Absci Corporation ABSI got a boost, shooting 31% to $8.04 after the company announced a research collaboration with Merck.


Singularity Future Technology Ltd. SGLY shares were also up, gaining 26% to $5.30.


Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

Siyata Mobile Inc. SYTA shares tumbled 42% to $1.8499 after the company announced pricing of a $20 million underwritten public offering.


Shares of Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc. NES were down 16% to $2.3780.


Digital Brands Group, Inc. DBGI was down, falling 16% to $2.2099. DBGI said it sees Q4 revenue in line with prior forecast of $4 million. The company also expects fiscal year 2021 net revenue to increase 44% to $7.6 million.


Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $79.98, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,790.90.


Silver traded down 0.1% Friday to $22.16 while copper rose 0.2% to $4.3630.


Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.5%. The German DAX dropped 0.2%, French CAC 40 declined 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.5%.

French current account deficit widened to EUR 3.6 billion in November from a revised EUR 2.5 billion gap in the prior month, while trade deficit increased to EUR 9.73 billion from EUR 7.70 billion. France's industrial production dropped 0.4% in November.

German trade surplus shrank to €12 billion in November from €16.8 billion in the year-ago period, while current account surplus fell to EUR 18.9 billion from EUR 21.7 billion. Industrial production in Germany fell 0.2% from a month ago in November. The Halifax house price index in the UK surged 9.8% year-over-year in December.


Economics


The US economy added just 199,000 jobs in December, well below analysts’ estimates of 422,000. The unemployment rate, however, dropped to 3.9%, the lowest since February 2020. Wage growth was 4.7%, down slightly from 4.7% in November.


Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET.


Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. ET.


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 November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsNewsPenny StocksEurozoneCommoditiesSmall CapGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Morning Market Update
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...