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Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.44% to 20,175.19 while the NASDAQ rose 1.25% to 7,239.90. However, the S&P fell 0.11% to 2,407.60.
US reported a total of 14,000 coronavirus cases with around 200 deaths. Italy reported a total of at least 41,000 confirmed cases and 3,400 deaths, while Iran confirmed a total of over 18,400 coronavirus cases. Mainland China reported no new domestic coronavirus case for the second consecutive day. In total, there are at least 245,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 10,000 deaths.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Consumer discretionary shares climbed 1.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Everi Holdings Inc. (NYSE:EVRI), up 40%, and Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN), up 55%.
In trading on Friday, material shares dipped 2.4%.
Top Headline
Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.
Hibbett posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.51 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $0.62 per share. The company’s sales came in at $313 million, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $303.63 million.
Hibbett Sports reported a 4% year-over-year rise in Q4 same-store sales.
Equities Trading UP
Bellerophon Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLPH) shares shot up 426% to $17.82 after the company reported that the FDA granted emergency expanded access for INOpulse for the treatment of coronavirus infection.
Shares of Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) got a boost, shooting 52% to $9.24 after surging around 35% on Thursday.
GenMark Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNMK) shares were also up, gaining 42% to $5.85 after the company received FDA Emergency Use Authorization for its ePlex SARS-CoV-2 test.
Equities Trading DOWN
Biomerica, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRA) shares tumbled 44% to $8.91 after surging over 55% on Thursday.
Shares of Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:AHPI) were down 29% to $17.70 after rising over 26% on Thursday.
Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:APRN) was down, falling 32% to $9.69. Blue Apron reported a sharp increase in demand.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 4.6% to $26.39, while gold traded up 1.8% to $1,505.90.
Silver traded up 4.8% Friday to $12.715, while copper rose 0.8% to $2.202.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 2.7% the Spanish Ibex Index rose 3.3%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.9%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 4%, and the French CAC 40 rose 5.1% while UK shares rose 1.7%.
Economics
US existing home sales rose 6.5% to an annual rate of 5.77 million units in February.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest quarter is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?
New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.
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