Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Nasdaq Rises 1.2%; VivoPower International Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.49% to 28,564.87 while the NASDAQ rose 1.2% to 11,557.53. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.80% to 3,474.43.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,607,950 cases with around 212,780 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 6,906,150 confirmed cases and 106,490 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,028,440 COVID-19 cases with 148,950 deaths. In total, there were at least 36,574,080 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,062,650 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped 1.7% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Niu Technologies NIU, up 15%, and LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. LITB, up 14%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 1%.

Top Headline

Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD is in late-stage discussions to acquire Xilinx Inc XLNX, and a deal could be finalized as soon as next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Xilinx acquisition is estimated close to $30 billion, a record valuation in the semiconductor industry.

Equities Trading UP

VivoPower International PLC VVPR shares shot up 66% to $16.75 after the company announced its executives signed a definitive agreement to acquire 51% of a light electric vehicle company called Tembo e-LV.

Shares of Kronos Bio, Inc. KRON got a boost, shooting 54% to $29.23 after the company priced its IPO at $19 per share.

Precigen, Inc. PGEN shares were also up, gaining 29% to $5.69 after the company announced that Merck KGaA raised its stake in the company.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

ShiftPixy, Inc. PIXY shares tumbled 25% to $2.7050 after the company announced the pricing of a 4 million share public offering at $3 per share.

Shares of Orbital Energy Group, Inc. OEG were down 18% to $0.8901 after rising more than 29% on Thursday.

RAVE Restaurant Group, Inc. RAVE was down, falling 15% to $0.84 after declining 15% on Thursday. RAVE Restaurant Group, on Tuesday, announced hiring of two new executives to fuel franchise development.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.4% to $40.63, while gold traded up 1.9% to $1,930.90.

Silver traded up 5.3% Friday to $25.135 while copper rose 1.4% to $3.0845.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.55%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.07%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 slipped 0.07%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.71% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.65%.

Britain's economy expanded for the fourth consecutive month, rising by 2.1% in August. However, the country’s industrial production rose 0.3% in August, versus a 5.2% surge in July.

Economics

US wholesale inventories rose 0.4% for August.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 4 to 193 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.