Dow Turns Lower; Amazon Shares Jump After Strong Q2 Results

U.S. stocks pared gains toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 turning lower on Friday.

The Dow traded down 0.08% to 35,187.47 while the NASDAQ rose 0.18% to 13,984.31. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.12% to 4,496.58.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Consumer discretionary shares rose by 2.7% on Friday.
• In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell by 1%.

Top Headline

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN shares gained around 10% on Friday after the company reported strong second-quarter financial results.

Amazon said second-quarter revenue increased 11% year-over-year to $134.4 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $131.54 billion,. The multifaceted company reported quarterly earnings of 65 cents per share, which beat analyst estimates of 34 cents per share.

Amazon expects third-quarter revenue to be between $138 billion and $143 billion versus estimates of $138.25 billion.

Equities Trading UP

• Missfresh Limited MF shares shot up 281% to $1.9612 after the company announced entry of share purchase agreements for financing and business acquisition.
• Shares of United States Cellular Corporation USM got a boost, shooting 91% to $33.35 following quarterly results. US Cellular and TDS announced the exploration of strategic alternatives for US Cellular.
• Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. TDS shares were also up, gaining 82% to $14.41 after the company announced the exploration of strategic alternatives for US Cellular and reported second-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Mesoblast Limited MESO shares dropped 61% to $1.5502. The FDA issued a complete response letter to Mesoblast’s resubmission for remestemcel-L for pediatric steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease (SR-aGVHD). The agency said it requires more data, and Mesoblast will conduct a targeted, controlled study in the highest-risk adults with the greatest mortality.
• Shares of Assertio Holdings, Inc. ASRT were down 45% to $2.9550 after the company reported second-quarter financial results and withdrew its 2023 financial outlook to "assess the recent news of a generic indomethacin suppository approved by the US FDA."
• INVO Bioscience, Inc. INVO was down, falling 39% to $1.93 after the company announced pricing of $4.5 million public offering of 1.58 million units at a price of $2.85 per unit.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.8% to $83.01 while gold traded up 0.4% at $1,977.40.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $23.72 on Friday while copper fell 1% to $3.8615.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.29%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.47% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.66% The German DAX gained 0.37% French CAC 40 rose 0.75% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.41%.

Retail sales in the Eurozone declined 0.3% from a month ago in June following a revised 0.6% growth May, while the HCOB Eurozone construction PMI fell to 43.5 in July 2023 from 44.2 in the earlier month. Industrial production in Italy increased 0.5% month-over-month in June, while industrial production in France declined by 0.9% month-over-month in June.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK construction PMI climbed to 51.7 in July from 48.9 in June, while the HCOB Germany construction PMI fell to 41 in July from 41.4 in the previous month. The S&P Global French construction PMI slipped to 42.9 in July from 43.7 a month ago.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 0.10%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.23% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.61%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.7%.

Retail sales in Singapore rose by 1.1% year-over-year in June, following a 1.8% growth in the prior month.

Economics

• The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in July, compared to market estimates of 200,000 and compared to a revised 185,000 gain in June.
• The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in July from 3.6% in June and versus market estimates of 3.6%.
• The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.4% to $33.74 in July, higher than market expectations for a 0.3% growth.

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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 107,542,890 cases with around 1,169,990 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,995,800 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 692,600,650 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,904,440 deaths.