Dow Edges Higher; Darden Restaurants Earnings Top Views

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 70 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.11% to 37,288.04 while the NASDAQ rose 0.48% to 14,832.05. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.06% to 4,722.55.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 0.9% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell by 1.4%.

Top Headline

Darden Restaurants Inc DRI posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter on Friday.

Darden Restaurants reported second-quarter FY24 sales growth of 9.7% year-on-year to $2.727 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.741 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.84 beat the consensus estimate of $1.74.

Equities Trading UP

Getaround, Inc. GETR shares shot up 127% to $0.3750 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in third-quarter financial results.

Shares of Battalion Oil Corporation BATL got a boost, surging 82% to $9.59 after the company announced it will be acquired by Fury Resources.

Bruush Oral Care Inc. BRSH shares were also up, gaining 35% to $0.23 after the company and Arrive Technology announced an agreement and plan of merger.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aadi Bioscience, Inc. AADI shares dropped 56% to $2.3399 after the company reported interim results from the PRECISION1 trial of nab-sirolimus.

Shares of Inno Holdings Inc. INHD were down 77% to $3.17 after jumping over 246% on Thursday. The company priced its IPO at $4 per share.

Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. EOSE was down, falling 36% to $1.0701 after the company reported pricing of $50 million public offering.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1% to $71.51 while gold traded up 0.1% at $2,047.20.

Silver traded down 0.5% to $24.26 on Friday while copper fell 0.2% to $3.8855.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.01%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.95% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.75% The German DAX fell 0.01% French CAC 40 rose 0.28%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.05%.

Eurozone reported a trade surplus of €11.1 billion in October compared to a €28.7 billion deficit in the year-ago period. The wage growth in the Eurozone increased to 5.3% year-over-year in the third quarter versus a 4.6% rise in the prior three-month period. Hourly labor costs in the Eurozone rose by 5.3% year-over-year in the third quarter. The HCOB Eurozone composite PMI declined to 47.0 in December from 47.6 in November.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK composite PMI climbed to 51.7 in December from 50.7 in the prior month. The HCOB Germany composite PMI fell to 46.7 from 47.8 in November, while France composite PMI declined to 43.7 from 44.6. The annual inflation rate in France eased to 3.5% in November from 4% in October.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.87%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 2.38% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.56%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 1.37%.

India's merchandise trade deficit shrank to $20.6 billion in November from $22.1 billion in the year-ago month. China's retail sales rose by 10.1% year-over-year in November versus a 7.6% rise in the prior month, while industrial production rose by 6.6% year-over-year in November. The au Jibun Bank Japan composite PMI rose to 50.4 in December versus a final reading of 49.6 in the previous month.

Economics

The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to -14.5 in December, recording the weakest reading in four months.

Industrial production in the U.S. increased by 0.2% from the prior month in November following a revised 0.9% decline in October.

The S&P Global services PMI climbed to 51.3 in December from 50.8 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI declined to 48.2 in December, the lowest in four months.

The S&P Global composite PMI increased to 51.0 in December from 50.7 in November.

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