U.S. stocks traded mostly higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 1% on Friday.

The Dow traded down 0.04% to 44,865.23 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.15% to 19,908.53. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.57% to 6,105.94.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares surged by 1.6% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 2.3%.

Top Headline

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

Total revenues and other income stood at $83.4 billion, missing the consensus of $86.6 billion.

Net production in the fourth quarter was 4.6 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, an increase of 20,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day from the prior quarter.

Adjusted net profit came in at $7.39 billion, down from $8.61 billion in the prior quarter. Adjusted EPS stood at $1.67, beating the consensus of $1.56.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Viavi Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAV) shares shot up 27% to $12.72 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.
• Shares of Signing Day Sports, Inc. (NYSE:SGN)got a boost, surging 65% to $4.2199 after the company announced it retains rights as the National Recruiting Partner to the U.S. Army Bowl through 2026 in new deal.
• NLS Pharmaceutics AG (NASDAQ:NLSP) shares were also up, gaining 37% to $2.7210 after announcing its merger with Kadimastem has been approved by shareholders.

Equities Trading DOWN

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $72.83 while gold traded up 0.2% at $2,850.90.

Silver traded up 0.5% to $32.665 on Friday, while copper fell 0.5% to $4.2845.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.16%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 0.08% and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.03%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.24%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.24%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.15% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 0.97%.

Economics

• U.S. personal income increased 0.4% month-over-month in December compared to a 0.3% gain in November.
• Personal spending climbed by 0.7% month-over-month to an annualized rate of $20.387 trillion in December.
• The core PCE price index in the US increased by 0.2% from the previous month for December.
• The Chicago PMI climbed to 39.5 in January from 36.9 in the previous month.

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