Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Up 70 Points; Pintec Technology Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.25% to 28,691.4 while the NASDAQ rose 0.01% to 9,023.17. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.11% to 3,243.45.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares climbed 0.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The Michaels Companies, Inc. MIK, up 9%, and GreenTree Hospitality Group Ltd - ADR GHG, up 6%.

In trading on Friday, financial shares fell 0.1%.

Top Headline

Flexion Therapeutics Inc FLXN said the FDA approved its sNDA for a label expansion for Zilretta in osteoarthritis knee pain.

"ZILRETTA is an invaluable non-opioid option for managing chronic OA knee pain, and it is encouraging to see a new product label that better informs clinical decision making," Dr. John Richmond, a clinician, said in a statement.

Originally, the FDA had set a PDUFA action date of Oct. 14, which was extended by three months.

Equities Trading UP

Iterum Therapeutics plc ITRM shares shot up 110% to $5.15 after the company reported the completion of enrollment in Phase 3 trial of oral sulopenem in uncomplicated urinary tract infection.

Shares of FuelCell Energy, Inc. FCEL got a boost, shooting up 22% to $1.3752 following press release highlighting start of commercial operation at 2.8MW fuel cell project in Tulare, California.

Pintec Technology Holdings Limited PT shares were also up, gaining 78% to $2.28 after the company announced an agreement deal with China Unicom to offer next-generation handset financing services to its broad base of subscribers.

Equities Trading DOWN

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. ACOR shares tumbled 14% to $2.3538 after surging 43.23% on Thursday.

Shares of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. TTPH were down 16% to $3.0260 after climbing 50% on Thursday.

Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. HARP was down, falling 16% to $15.65. Harpoon Therapeutics 8-K showed that the company and Werewolf Therapeutics amended deal to include grant to Werewolf of exclusive, royalty-bearing, sublicensable license under certain patents owned.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $61.71, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,518.40.

Silver traded up 0.1% Friday to $18.005, while copper fell 1% to $2.8215.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.21%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.59%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.27%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.13% while UK shares rose 0.17%.

Economics

Domestic supplies of natural gas dropped 161 billion cubic feet for the week ended December 20, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a decline of 150 to 153 bcf.

U.S. crude supplies dropped 5.4 million barrels for the week ended December 20, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a fall of 3 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose 2 million barrels, while distillate supplies fell 200,000 barrels

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on farm prices for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.