Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Up 1.5%; Aclaris Therapeutics Shares Jump

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 1.53% to 26901.25 while the NASDAQ rose 1.82% to 8095.51. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.59% to 2,984.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Material shares climbed 2.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tronox Holdings plc TROX, up 9%, and AK Steel Holding Corporation AKS, up 8%.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Fastenal Company FAST reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Fastenal reported third-quarter earnings of 37 cents per share Friday, beating the analyst consensus estimate by a penny. The company reported quarterly sales of $1.379 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.37 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. SES shares shot up 101% to $3.60 after the company announced it has purchased Austalian Future Energy for $36 million.

Shares of Fastenal Company FAST surged 15% to $35.81 after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. ACRS was up, rising 13% to $1.34 after the company announced it has divested Rhofade. The divestiture of RHOFADE is a key component of Aclaris' recently announced strategic plan to refocus resources on the development of its immuno-inflammatory development programs.

Equities Trading DOWN

Yandex N.V. YNDX shares tumbled 17% to $29.49 after a media report on concerns over draft law on limiting foreign ownership.

Shares of The ExOne Company XONE were down 12% to $7.25 after the company issued weak sales guidance. The company said it expects Q3 sales of $10 million to $11 million, versus prior guidance of 'modest' growth from Q2 sales of $15.3 million. ExOne projects FY19 sales growth to be lower than its previous forecast.

Auris Medical Holding Ltd. EARS was down, falling 10% to $2.34 after reporting interim results from AM-201 from Phase 1b study in antipsychotic-induced weight gain.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.5% to $54.34, while gold traded down 1.5% to $1,479.20.

Silver traded down 1% Friday to $17.435, while copper rose 0.3% to $2.62.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.95%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.48%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.44%, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.46% while UK shares rose 0.62%.

Economics

U.S. import prices rose 0.2% in September, versus a revised 0.2% decline in August. Export prices slipped 0.2% in September, versus a 0.6% drop in the prior month.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 96 in October, versus a reading of 93.2 in the previous month.

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

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren will speak in Madison, Wisconsin at 1:15 p.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in San Francisco, CA at 3:00 p.m. ET.