Mid-Day Market Update: Anadarko Petroleum Jumps Following Acquisition News; X4 Pharmaceuticals Shares Slide

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.89 percent to 26376.14 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.33 percent to 7,973.81. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.54 percent to 2,903.97.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the financial shares rose 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Qudian Inc. QD up 11 percent, and Banco Santander Mexico Sa Instcn De BSMX up 13 percent.

In trading on Friday, health care shares fell 0.7 percent.

Top Headline

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Friday.

JPMorgan said it earned $2.65 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $29.1 billion versus expectations of $2.35 per share and $28.47 billion. Net income for the quarter rose from $8.712 billion in the same quarter a year ago to $9.179 billion.

By segment, Consumer & Community banking revenue rose 9 percent to $13.751 billion, Corporate & Investment Bank revenue fell 6 percent to $9.848 billion, Commercial Banking revenue rose 8 percent to $2.338 billion, Asset & Wealth Management revenue was flat at $3.489 billion, and Corporate revenue more than tripled from $127 million to $425 million.

Equities Trading UP

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation APC shares got a boost, shooting up 33 percent to $62.21 after Chevron Corporation CVX announced plans to acquire Anadarko Petroleum for $33 billion. As part of the merger agreement, Chevron will pay Anadarko shareholders $16.25 in cash plus 0.3869 Chevron shares for each Anadarko share held. The deal values Anadarko's stock at $65 per share and represents a premium of more than 35 percent from Thursday's closing price.

Shares of Reebonz Holding Limited RBZ shot up 111 percent to $18.25 on no new news following an offering announced on Thursday. Reebonz has been an extremely momentous stock over the last month.

The Walt Disney Company DIS shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $127.99 after the company detailed the launch of its Disney+ streaming service. Analysts at JP Morgan reinstated coverage on the stock with an Overweight rating and $137 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. XFOR shares dropped 21 percent to $11.86 after the company announced a 5.67 million share offering of shares and warrants priced at $11 per unit.

Shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras PBR were down 8 percent to $15.15 following media reports the company will postpone an increase of diesel prices following pressure from the Brazilian president.

Allegheny Technologies Incorporated ATI was down, falling around 7 percent to $25.25 after Macquarie downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $34 to $28.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8 percent to $64.07 while gold traded up 0.1 percent to $1,294.50.

Silver traded up 0.7 percent Friday to $14.965, while copper fell 1.8 percent to $2.9395.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.16 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.24 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.8 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.54 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.31 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.26 percent.

Economics

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak in Leesburg, Virginia.

The import price index rose 0.6 percent in March, versus a revised 1 percent increase in February. Export prices rose 0.7 percent last month.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 96.9 in April, versus a reading of 98.4 in the prior month.
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The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.