Nasdaq Rises 50 Points; US Manufacturing PMI Improves In September

U.S. stocks traded slightly higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 50 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.02% to 34,078.08 while the NASDAQ rose 0.41% to 13,277.55. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.20% to 4,338.80.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 1% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell by 0.3%.

Top Headline

The S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 48.9 in September from 47.9 in the prior month, beating market estimates of 48.

The S&P Global services PMI declined to 50.2 in September from 50.5 in August, below estimates of 50.6.

Equities Trading UP

MicroAlgo Inc. MLGO shares shot up 39% to $5.61 after it unveiled a knowledge-enhanced backtracking search algorithm to boost the performance and efficiency of research institutions.

Shares of Cheche Group Inc. CCG got a boost, shooting 39% to $20.49 amid continued volatility following the company's business combination with Prime Impact Acquisition I on Monday. The company today also said it has a successful, ongoing collaboration with Li Auto.

Avalo Therapeutics, Inc. AVTX shares were also up, gaining 30% to $0.1320 after falling 8% on Thursday. The company recently agreed to divest AVTX-800 series.

Equities Trading DOWN

Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. NEPT shares dropped 45% to $2.21 after the company announced pricing of a $4.5 million public offering of 1.8 million shares at $2.50 per share.

Shares of Powerbridge Technologies Co., Ltd. PBTS were down 29% to $1.51 after jumping 26% on Thursday. Powerbridge Technologies expanded global trade digital platform services across Asia and Europe.

FLJ Group Limited FLJ was down, falling 28% to $0.2197.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.7% to $91.12 while gold traded up 0.4% at $1,946.30.

Silver traded up 1.1% to $23.935 on Friday while copper rose 0.6% to $3.7170.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.22% London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.36% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.34% The German DAX fell 0.06% French CAC 40 declined 0.46%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.22%.

The HCOB Eurozone services PMI rose to 48.4 in September from 47.9 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI edged lower to 43.4 in from 43.5. The HCOB France composite PMI declined to 43.5 in September from August's reading of 46, while German composite PMI climbed to 46.2 in September from August's level of 44.6.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI declined to 47.2 in September from 49.5 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI rose to 44.2 in September from 43. Spain's quarterly economic growth was revised higher to 0.5% on quarter during the second quarter versus the preliminary reading of 0.4%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.52%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 2.28% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.55%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, declined 0.2%.

The Bank of Japan held its key short-term interest rate at -0.1%, while Japanese composite PMI declined to 51.8 in September from a final reading of 52.6 in August. The annual inflation rate in Japan fell to 3.2% in August compared to previous month’s reading of 3.3%.

Economics

The S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 48.9 in September from 47.9 in the prior month, beating market estimates of 48.

The S&P Global services PMI declined to 50.2 in September from 50.5 in August, below estimates of 50.6.

The S&P Global composite PMI slipped to 50.1 in September from 50.2 in August.

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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 108,541,850 cases with around 1,175,560 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,998,330 cases and 531,930 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 695,603,900 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,918,430 deaths.