Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.04% to 29,883.70 while the NASDAQ rose 0.86% to 12,197.94. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17% to 3,635.88.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 12,885,290 cases with around 263,460 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 9,309,780 confirmed cases and 135,710 deaths, while Brazil reported over 6,204,220 COVID-19 cases with 171,460 deaths. In total, there were at least 61,104,900 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,434,500 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Health care shares rose 0.8% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. ARCT, up 25%, and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RYTM, up 23%.
In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 1.5%.
Top Headline
Walt Disney Co DIS confirmed in a regulatory filing update that approximately 32,000 employees will lose their jobs in the first half of 2021.
Disney's job cuts will mostly impact employees in its Parks, Experiences and Products business units, the company said.
Equities Trading UP
Aurora Mobile Limited JG shares shot up 26% to $3.97 after the company announced it signed a 5G strategic cooperation framework agreement and 5G messaging connection test agreement with Beijing Unicorn. The company also released quarterly results on Wednesday.
Shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RYTM got a boost, shooting 23% to $29.61 after the company announced that the FDA approved its IMCIVREE as a therapy for chronic weight management in patients with obesity due to POMC, PCSK1, and LEPR deficiency.
Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. SRNE shares were also up, gaining 16% to $7.99. SmartPharm Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Sorrento, announced a contract award by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for developing a gene-encoded antibody, or Gene Mab, that would prevent as well as treat COVID-19 infection. The scope of the contract will be the development through Phase 2 studies and would fetch the company up to $34 million in initial funding.
Equities Trading DOWN
Newborn Acquisition Corp. NBAC shares tumbled 23% to $17.21 after jumping over 86%on Wednesday. Vehicle-to-grid charging company Nuvve is going public through a merger with Newborn.
Shares of Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc.. MFH were down 17% to $2.46 after the company reported Q3 earnings results.
Yunji Inc. YJ was down, falling 20% to $3.9589 after reporting Q3 results.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $45.31, while gold traded down 1.3% to $1,788.00.
Silver traded down 3.3% Friday to $22.675 while copper rose 2.6% to $3.4170.
Euro zone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.41%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.06%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.68%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.37%, French CAC 40 rose 0.56% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.07%.
The French economy expanded 18.7% on quarter during the third quarter versus a record 13.8% decline in the earlier period, while industrial producer prices rose 0.1% in October. Import prices in Germany declined 3.9% year-over-year in October.
Economics
Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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