Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.08% to 36,370.19 while the NASDAQ fell 0.07% to 15,730.21. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.02% to 4,777.65.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 55,252,820 cases with around 845,740 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,838,800 cases and 481,080 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,277,230 COVID-19 cases with 619,020 deaths. In total, there were at least 286,977,620 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,448,550 deaths.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Real estate shares climbed 0.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included New York City REIT, Inc. NYC, up 12% and eXp World Holdings, Inc. EXPI up 3%.
In trading on Friday, communication services shares fell 0.3%.
Top Headline
Pfizer, Inc.'s PFE oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid was ratified by another health regulator ahead of the dawn of the new year.
The U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency announced Friday it has approved Pfizer's Paxlovid for treating COVID-19 infection.
Equities Trading UP
Nutriband Inc. NTRB shares shot up 168% to $10.46 after the company announced the Korean Intellectual Property Office has fully issued its patent titled "Abuse and Misuse Deterrent Transdermal System" which is related to the company's lead technology AVERSA.
Shares of Medalist Diversified REIT, Inc. MDRR got a boost, shooting 33% to $1.35 after the company reported a stock repurchase program of 500,000 shares.
Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc. XERS shares were also up, gaining 19% to $2.8950 after the company announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Recorlev for the treatment of endogenous hypercortisolemia in adult patients with Cushing's Syndrome.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Star Equity Holdings, Inc. STRR shares tumbled 16% to $2.5589. Star Equity Holdings recently named Richard Coleman as COO.
Shares of Stryve Foods, Inc. SNAX were down 18% to $3.70. Stryve Foods recently entered into a new distribution agreement to bring three flavors of its Vacadillos carne seca air-dried meat snacks to nearly 8,000 7-Eleven domestic convenience stores.
Integrated Media Technology Limited IMTE was down, falling 9% to $4.58. Integrated Media Technology recently reported launching of NFT trading platform.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.1% to $76.15, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,822.40.
Silver traded up 0.5% Friday to $23.175 while copper rose 1.2% to $4.4450.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.18%, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.25%, while French CAC 40 fell 0.28%.
Economics
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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