Nasdaq Falls Over 100 Points; Crude Oil Drops Sharply

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping more than 100 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 1.07% to 32,845.50 while the NASDAQ fell 1.02% to 10,700.00. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.25% to 3,846.86.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares fell by just 0.2% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Outbrain Inc. OB, up 12%, and Scholastic Corporation SCHL, up 12%.

In trading on Friday, real estate shares tumbled by 3.5%.

Top Headline

The S&P Global manufacturing PMI declined to 46.2 in December from 47.7 in the previous month, and compared to market estimates of 47.7.

The S&P Global services PMI dropped to 44.4 in December from 46.2 a month ago and compared to market views of 46.8.

Equities Trading UP

• Maxar Technologies Inc. MAXR shares shot up 123% to $51.42 after the company announced it will be acquired by Advent International for $6.4 billion.
• Shares of Trean Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIG) got a boost, shooting 92% to $6.01 after the company announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by Altaris Capital Partners for $6.15 per share in cash.
• Exact Sciences Corporation EXAS shares were also up, gaining 19% to $52.96 after competitor Guardant Health reported results from a study of its colorectal cancer detection blood test.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Synaptogenix, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPX) shares tumbled 73% to $1.27 after the company announced Phase 2 clinical trial of Bryostatin-1 for Advanced Alzheimer's disease. The company said endpoint was not met with statistical significance.
• Shares of Avaya Holdings Corp. AVYA were down 60% to $0.2040 following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting the company is nearing a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
• BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd. BVXV was down, falling 55% to $3.94 after the company priced its 1.6 million unit offering at $5.00 per unit.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.3% to $73.58 while gold traded up 0.5% at $1,796.60.

Silver traded down 0.3% to $23.21 on Friday while copper fell 0.2% to $3.7550.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.27%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.42% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.41%. The German DAX dropped 0.85%, French CAC 40 fell 1.23% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.43%.

The Eurozone reported a trade deficit of EUR 26.5 billion in October, the with imports increasing by 30.7% to EUR 279.3 billion. The consumer price inflation in the Eurozone increased to 10.1% year-over-year in November versus a preliminary reading of 10.0%. The annual inflation rate in Italy came in at 11.8% in November, in line with preliminary reading.

The S&P Global Flash Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 47.8 in December from 47.1 in the previous month, while services PMI rose to 49.1 from 48.5. The S&P Global/CIPS services PMI for the UK climbed to 50.0 in December from 48.8 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI fell to 44.7 from 46.5. French composite PMI declined to 48 in December from 48.7 a month ago, while German composite PMI increased to 48.9 in December from 46.3.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with the Japan’s Nikkei dropping 1.87% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.42%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.02%.

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate fell to 3.7% from 3.8% in the prior month. Japanese manufacturing PMI fell to 48.8 in December from a final reading of 49 in November, while services PMI rose to 51.7 in December. The Judo Bank Australian composite PMI declined to 47.3 in December compared to 48 in the earlier month.

Economics

• The S&P Global manufacturing PMI declined to 46.2 in December from 47.7 in the previous month, and compared to market estimates of 47.7.
• The S&P Global services PMI dropped to 44.4 in December from 46.2 a month ago and compared to market views of 46.8.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 101,714,150 cases with around 1,112,790 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,676,690 cases and 530,660 deaths, while France reported over 38,745,520 COVID-19 cases with 160,220 deaths. In total, there were at least 656,566,410 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,668,030 deaths.