Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 150 Points; Biogen Shares Climb On Positive Alzheimer's Drug Trial

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.62 percent to 24,506.75 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.26 percent to 7,681.80. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.91 percent to 2,761.60.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday afternoon, the health care shares climbed 1.34 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included AC Immune SA (NASDAQ:ACIU) up 34 percent, and ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) up 18 percent.

In trading on Friday, telecommunication services shares rose by just 0.2 percent.

Top Headline

The U.S. economy added 213,000 new jobs for June, while the unemployment increased to 4 percent from 3.8 percent. Economists were expecting an addition of 200,000 nonfarm jobs

Equities Trading UP

Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX) shares shot up 66 percent to $1.58 after the nano-cap company said it will partner with an un-named but "renowned and prominent" social media organization for its global data center expansion program. The five- to 10-year strategic relationship could expand from $10 million today to $300 million or more for Black Box.

Shares of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $348.41 in reaction to encouraging results from a clinical study. The company and its Japan-based partner Eisai Co said its Alzheimer's drug BAN2401 was able to slow down the progression of the disease among patients who were given the highest dose after an 18 month treatment.

Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:XBIO) shares were also up, gaining 34 percent to $5.80.

Equities Trading DOWN

Regulus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLS) shares dropped 52 percent to $0.351 after announcing strategic update. The company disclosed that it has paused recruitment activities for its RG-012 program In Alport syndrome. The company will also reduce workforce by 60 percent.

Shares of China Lending Corporation (NASDAQ:CLDC) were down 29 percent to $2.31. China Lending reported a $2 million registered direct placement of stock and warrants with two institutional investors at a price of $2.60 per share.

LSC Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LKSD) was down, falling around 13 percent to $14.09. JP Morgan downgraded LSC Communications from Neutral to Underweight.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.17 percent to $73.79 while gold traded down 0.27 percent to $1,255.40.

Silver traded down 0.45 percent Friday to $16.025, while copper fell 0.71 to $2.806.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.20 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.39 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.05 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.26 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.18 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.19 percent.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 213,000 new jobs for June, while the unemployment increased to 4 percent from 3.8 percent. Economists were expecting an addition of 200,000 nonfarm jobs

The U.S. trade deficit declined 6.6 percent to $43.1 billion in May, versus a revised $46.1 billion gap in April. Economists projected a deficit of $43.6 billion for May.

Domestic supplies of natural gas increased 78 billion cubic feet for the week ended June 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts projected a gain of 76 billion cubic feet.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs gained by 5 to 863 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.