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.
Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.40% to 35,204.21 while the NASDAQ fell 0.41% to 14,833.72. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16% to 4,435.97.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 35,440,500 cases with around 615,320 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 31,856,750 cases and 426,750 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,066,580 COVID-19 cases with 560,700 deaths. In total, there were at least 200,939,770 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,267,850 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
ENTER TO WIN $500 IN STOCK OR CRYPTO
Enter your email and you'll also get Benzinga's ultimate morning update AND a free $30 gift card and more!
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Financial shares rose 1.9% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT), up 14% and HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) up 18%.
In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell 0.7%.
Top Headline
The US economy added 943,000 jobs in July 2021, while the unemployment rate dropped by 0.5%, according to Friday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report. That leaves the unemployment rate at 5.4%, the lowest it's been since the pandemic began in America in March 2020.
Equities Trading UP
Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY) shares shot up 38% to $4.75 after the company inked an agreement with turnkey mining solutions provider Hertford Advisors Ltd to provide a six-month exclusive right to assume all of Hertford's rights to several bitcoin mining agreements.
Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) got a boost, shooting 24% to $14.50 after the company reported a sharp rise in Q2 sales.
Switch, Inc. (NYSE:SWCH) shares were also up, gaining 20% to $24.42 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 sales results and issued strong FY21 sales guidance.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRNA) shares tumbled 27% to $27.50 after the company announced top-line results from the PHYOX2 pivotal clinical trial of nedosiran, which is in development as a once-monthly treatment for primary hyperoxaluria. Nedosiran is Dicerna's lead GalXC RNAi therapeutic candidate. The PHYOX2 clinical trial included participants with PH subtypes 1 and 2.
Want Private Access to Benzinga Analyst?
Check out the latest strategies our team of experts are using every week so that you can always adapt to the market like the pros!—Get FULL Access to This Week's Webinar Here.
Shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPPI) were down 25% to $2.4350 after the company received an FDA Complete Response Letter (CRL) regarding its marketing application for Rolontis (eflapegrastim) for neutropenia (low count of a type of white blood cell) in patients receiving myelosuppressive anti-cancer drugs. The CRL cited deficiencies related to manufacturing and indicated that a reinspection would be necessary.
iCAD, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICAD) was down, falling 27% to $11.20 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 results.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $68.44, while gold traded down 2.4% to $1,765.10.
Silver traded down 3.7% Friday to $24.36 while copper fell 0.1% to $4.3430.
Euro zone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.01%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.48% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.11%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.04%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.53% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 1.3%.
Payroll employment in the French private sector increased 1.2% to 19.75 million in the second quarter, while current account deficit shrank to EUR 0.5 billion in June.
Germany's industrial production dropped 1.3% in June, while house prices in the UK rose 7.6% year-over-year in July. Spain's industrial production growth dropped to 11.1% year-over-year in June versus a revised 25.0% growth in the prior month.
Economics
The US economy added 943,000 jobs in July 2021, while the unemployment rate dropped by 0.5%, according to Friday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report. That leaves the unemployment rate at 5.4%, the lowest it's been since the pandemic began in America in March 2020.
US wholesale inventories rose 1.1% for June.
US oil rigs rose by 2 to 387 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc said.
Data on consumer credit for June will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Check out the full economic calendar here
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.