Nasdaq Turns Lower; Crude Oil Down Over 3%

U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite turning lower on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.42% to 33,686.06 while the NASDAQ fell 0.25% to 11,117.35. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.17% to 3,953.42.

Also check this: Investor Optimism Declines After US Stocks Settle Lower

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 1.7% on Friday. Leading the sector was strength from Genie Energy Ltd. GNE and UGI Corporation UGI.

In trading on Friday, energy dipped by 1.6%.

Top Headline

Foot Locker Inc reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised FY22 guidance.

Foot Locker reported a third-quarter FY22 sales decline of 0.73% year-on-year to $2.17 billion, beating the consensus of $2.09 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.27 beat the analyst consensus of $1.11. Comparable store sales increased 0.8% versus last year.

It raised adjusted FY22 EPS from $4.25 - $4.45 to $4.42 - $4.50.

Equities Trading UP

• PaxMedica, Inc. PXMD shares shot up 43% to $2.2150. after the company announced an equity investment agreement for up to $20 million with Lincoln Park Capital.
• Shares of Clearfield, Inc. CLFD got a boost, shooting 26% to $117.03 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results.
• IVERIC bio, Inc. ISEE shares were also up, gaining 28% to $22.01 after the company announced the FDA has granted breakthrough therapy designation for avacincaptad pegol for geographic atrophy.

Equities Trading DOWN

• G1 Therapeutics, Inc. GTHX shares tumbled 24% to $6.49 after the company announced pricing of a $50.05 million public offering of 7.7 million shares of common stock at a price of $6.50 per share.
• Shares of Kiora Pharmaceuticals, Inc. KPRX were down 34% to $3.92. Kiora Pharmaceuticals entered into agreements to raise $3.12 million from the exercise of previously issued Class A warrants.
• Inotiv, Inc. NOTV was down, falling 28% to $4.88. Lake Street downgraded Inotiv from Buy to Hold and announced a $7 price target. Inotiv, on Thursday, announced the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida has criminally charged employees of the co.'s principal supplier of non-human primates, along with two Cambodian officials, with conspiring to illegally import non-human primates into the U.S.

Also check out: Hillenbrand, Cisco, Macy's And Other Big Gainers From Thursday

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.2% to $79.00 while gold traded down 0.3% at $1,757.10.

Silver traded up 0.5% to $21.085 on Friday while copper fell 0.8% to $3.66.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.15%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.52% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1%. The German DAX rose 1.17%, French CAC 40 climbed 1.07% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 1.25%.

Retail sales in the UK rose 0.6% month-over-month in October versus analysts’ expectations for a 0.3% growth, while the GfK Consumer Confidence indicator increased slightly to -44 in November.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with the Japan’s Nikkei dropping 0.11% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.29%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.58%.

The core consumer price index in Japan rose 3.6% from a year ago in October.

Economics

• Existing home sales in the US dropped 5.9% to an annual rate of 4.43 million in October, recording the lowest level since December.
• US leading economic index declined 0.8% in November.

Check out this: Market Volatility Decreases Following Jobless Claims Data

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 100,108,700 cases with around 1,101,840 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,668,950 cases and 530,550 deaths, while France reported over 37,250,370 COVID-19 cases with 158,080 deaths. In total, there were at least 642,113,850 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,622,180 deaths.