U.S. stocks saw a significant uptick today, with the Dow Jones index soaring over 150 points on Friday.
As the market opened on Friday, the Dow climbed 0.46% to 39,249.71, while the NASDAQ also rose by 0.20% to 16,073.78. The S&P 500 followed suit, registering a gain of 0.41% to 5,107.74.
Sector Performance
The utilities sector surged by 1.1% on Friday.
Conversely, energy shares experienced a decline of 1.1% during trading.
Highlights of the Day
AerCap Holdings N.V. AER reported impressive earnings for the fourth quarter on Friday.
Total revenues and other income saw a 4% rise to $1.899 billion, slightly below the consensus of $1.926 billion. However, an adjusted EPS of $3.11 surpassed the analyst consensus of $2.45.
Stocks on the Rise
AXT, Inc. AXTI witnessed a substantial 79% increase, reaching $4.0690 after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.
Shares of Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc. MRVI surged by 56% to $7.97 following the announcement of superior fourth-quarter financial results.
Monopar Therapeutics Inc. MNPR also experienced an upswing, with shares rising by 52% to $1.70 after revealing preclinical data for its MNPR-101 radiopharma program aimed at advanced cancers.
Stocks on the Decline
Sequans Communications S.A. SQNS observed a significant 73% drop to $0.6995 after Renesas terminated the proposed acquisition of Sequans.
Shares of Charge Enterprises, Inc. CRGE fell by 41% to $0.0430 as a result of Nasdaq Hearings Panel’s decision to delist common shares.
Upland Software, Inc. UPLD declined by 39% to $2.67 after reporting disappointing quarterly earnings.
Commodity Market
In the commodity realm, oil prices dipped by 2.1% to $76.94, while gold edged up by 0.3% to $2,036.30.
Silver experienced a decrease of 0.5% to $22.68 on Friday, and copper fell by 1.1% to $3.8560.
Euro Zone Developments
European shares saw an upward trajectory today. The STOXX 600 of the eurozone rose by 0.5%, and the FTSE 100 in London climbed by 0.3%. Meanwhile, Spain’s IBEX 35 Index experienced a slight fall of 0.1%, whereas Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 increased by 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively. Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged by 1%.
In further news, the German economy contracted by 0.3% in the final quarter of 2023. Concurrently, the Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany showed a slight improvement to 85.5 in February from 85.2 in January. Additionally, median consumer expectations for eurozone inflation over the next 12 months accelerated to 3.3% in January compared to 3.2% in the prior month. The GfK Consumer Confidence indicator in the UK dropped to -21 in February from -19 in January.
Asia Pacific Markets Overview
Asian markets exhibited mixed performance on Friday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling by 0.10%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rising by 0.55%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex increasing by 0.1%.
Notably, Chinese new home prices dropped by 0.7% year-over-year in January, contrasting with a 0.4% fall in the previous month.
Economic Indicators
Data regarding the Baker Hughes rig count for the recent week is set to be released at 1 p.m. ET.
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