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Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.40 percent to 19,694.00 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.36 percent to 5,436.65. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.37 percent to 2,254.50.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Friday afternoon, healthcare shares gained by 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Emergent Biosolutions Inc (NYSE: EBS), and Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO).
In trading on Friday, basic materials shares fell by 0.98 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE: HMY), down 7 percent, and McEwen Mining Inc (NYSE: MUX), down 8 percent.
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Top Headline
Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR) reported upbeat results for its second quarter and issued a strong forecast for the current quarter on Thursday.
Finisar posted adjusted earnings of $0.58 per share on revenue of $369.9 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.46 per share on revenue of $361 million.
Equities Trading UP
Emergent Biosolutions Inc (NYSE: EBS) shares shot up 21 percent to $32.83 after the company disclosed that it will support HHS anthrax preparedness strategy with up to $1 billion in BioThrax deliveries to the Strategic National Stockpile.
Shares of Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE: SWC) got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $17.40 after Sibanye Gold Ltd (ADR) (NYSE: SBGL) announced plans to acquire Stillwater for $18.00 per share in cash.
InvenSense Inc (NYSE: INVN) shares were also up, gaining 28 percent to $10.62 following news from Reuters that the U.S. chipmaker was in talks to be acquired by Japan-based TDK Corp. The source for the story was unwilling to be identified, as deliberations were confidential, but disclosed that TDK had offered $12 per share, an over 44 percent premium from where InvenSense was trading before the news broke, according to Reuters.
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Equities Trading DOWN
Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCON) shares dropped 29 percent to $1.42 after the company reported an offering of $10.2 million.
Shares of Clearside Biomedical Inc (NASDAQ: CLSD) were down 20 percent to $9.26. Clearside Biomedical priced an underwritten public offering of 4,000,000 shares at $9.00 per share.
Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc (NYSE: RH) was down, falling around 19 percent to $31.75. Restoration Hardware reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, but issued a weak outlook for the holiday quarter.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.24 percent to $51.47 while gold traded down 0.90 percent to $1,161.80.
Silver traded down 0.80 percent Friday to $16.96, while copper rose 0.82 percent to $2.65.
Eurozone
European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.97 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.26 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.73 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.22 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.60 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.33 percent.
Economics
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 98.00 in December, versus a prior reading of 93.80. Economists were expecting a reading of 94.50.
U.S. wholesale inventories declined 0.40 percent for October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.40 percent drop.
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.