Nasdaq Jumps 100 Points; Crude Oil Down 1%

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 100 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.29% to 34,047.95 while the NASDAQ rose 0.88% to 11,613.37. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.41% to 4,077.05.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Consumer discretionary shares rose by 2.1% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Porch Group, Inc. PRCH, up 14%, and Autoliv, Inc. ALV, up 9%.
• In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 1.7%.

Top Headline

Personal spending in the US fell 0.2% month-over-month in December versus market expectations for a 0.1% decline. Personal income in the US rose 0.2%. The PCE Price Index increased by 0.1% month-over-month in December.

Equities Trading UP

• BuzzFeed, Inc. BZFD shares shot up 65% to $3.4680, gaining for the second day, after reports surfaced about its deal with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc yesterday.
• Shares of Applied UV, Inc. AUVI got a boost, shooting 55% to $1.6127 after the company announced that it has engaged a legal counsel to investigate potential illegal short selling of its stock.
• Quince Therapeutics, Inc. QNCX shares were also up, gaining 42% to $1.1502 after the company announced the sale of its legacy small molecule protease inhibitor portfolio to Lighthouse Pharmaceuticals,

Equities Trading DOWN

• Nemaura Medical Inc. NMRD shares tumbled 41% to $1.70 after the company announced pricing of a roughly $8.4 million registered direct offering and concurrent private placement.
• Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. EBC were down 11% to $15.71 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 EPS results.
• World Acceptance Corporation WRLD was down, falling 12% to $95.65 after BMO Capital maintained an Underperform rating on the stock and lowered its price target from $46 to $32.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.1% to $80.12 while gold traded up 0.1% at $1,930.80.

Silver traded down 1.6% to $23.645 on Friday while copper fell 1.2% to $4.2185.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.26%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.05% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.27%. The German DAX gained 0.11% French CAC 40 rose 0.02% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.83%.

Loans to households in the Eurozone increased 3.8% year-over-year in December. The Spanish economy grew by 0.2% on quarter during the three months to December. Industrial sales in Italy increased by 0.9% from a month ago in November, while consumer confidence in France dropped to 80 in January versus a revised 81 in the previous month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.07% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.54%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex dipped 1.45%.

The Domestic Supply Price Index in Singapore increased 2.4% year-over-year in December. Australia's import prices rose by 1.8% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter, while export prices declined by 0.9% on quarter. Australian final demand producer price index rose by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter.

Economics

• Personal spending in the US fell 0.2% month-over-month in December versus market expectations for a 0.1% decline. Personal income in the US rose 0.2%. The PCE Price Index increased by 0.1% month-over-month in December.
• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment was revised higher to 64.9 in January versus a preliminary reading of 64.6.
• Pending home sales in the US increased 2.5% month-over-month in December.

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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 104,093,490 cases with around 1,132,130 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,682,430 cases and 530,730 deaths, while France reported over 39,503,470 COVID-19 cases with 164,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 674,412,130 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,755,750 deaths.