Crude Oil Down 2%; Citigroup Profit Tops Estimates

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones gaining over 100 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.31% to 34,501.62 while the NASDAQ rose 0.36% to 14,188.86. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.19% to 4,518.39.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Health care shares climbed by 1.2% on Friday.
• In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 1.9%.

Top Headline

Citigroup Inc C reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.

Citigroup reported a second-quarter FY23 net revenue decline of 1% year-over-year to $19.44 billion, beating the consensus of $19.27 billion. EPS was $1.33, above the consensus of $1.30.

Citigroup expects FY23 adjusted revenue of $78 billion - $79 billion vs. consensus $78.86 billion.

Equities Trading UP

• Aehr Test Systems AEHR shares shot up 17% to $48.32 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and issued strong guidance.
• Shares of Frequency Therapeutics, Inc. FREQ got a boost, shooting 66% to $0.6623 after the company agreed to merge with Korro Bio in an all- stock transaction.
• ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. ACAD shares were also up, gaining 18% to $30.38 after the company announced it acquired ex-North American rights to trofinetide and global rights to Neuren's NNZ-2591 in Rett Syndrome and Fragile X syndrome. The company also announced guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Theseus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. THRX shares dropped 71% to $2.73 after the company announced discontinuing enrollment in Phase 1/2 study and terminating development of THE-630 for gastrointestinal stromal tumors following two dose-limiting toxicities.
• Shares of Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. GLMD were down 31% to $1.44. Galmed Pharmaceuticals announced pricing of $7 million public offering of 5.6 million shares and warrants at a purchase price of $1.25 per share.
• Leslie's, Inc. LESL was down, falling 34% to $6.32 after the company released preliminary results for its fiscal third quarter and announced a CFO transition. The company said it expects fiscal third-quarter revenue to come in at $611 million versus estimates of $703.74 million and seed adjusted earnings in a range of 39 cents to 41 cents per share versus estimates of 69 cents per share. Leslie's also announced that CFO Steve Weddell is stepping down from his role, effective Aug. 7.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2% to $75.35 while gold traded up 0.1% at $1,965.90.

Silver traded up 1.2% to $25.235 on Friday while copper fell 0.1% to $3.9350.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.14%, London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.02% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index slipped 0.34% The German DAX declined 0.23% French CAC 40 gained 0.08% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.40%.

Italy recorded a trade surplus of EUR 4.7 billion in May versus a year-ago gap of EUR 62 million. Germany's wholesale prices declined for the third straight month to 2.9% year-over-year in June.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 declining 0.09%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.33%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.04%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.4%.

India's wholesale prices declined by 4.12% year-over-year in June versus a 3.48% drop in the previous month, while domestic passenger vehicle sales in India rose by 1.6% year-over-year to 280,252 in June. Industrial production in Japan fell by 2.2% month-over-month in May versus the flash reading of a 1.6% decline.

Economics

• Export prices in the U.S. fell 0.9% month-over-month in June versus a 1.9% decline in May.
• Import prices in the U.S. fell 0.2% month-over-month in June versus a revised 0.4% decline in May.
• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for the U.S. rose for a second month to a reading of 72.6 in July, recording the highest level since Sept. 2021.

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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 107,373,570 cases with around 1,168,610 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,994,760 cases and 531,910 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 691,451,110 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,899,350 deaths.