Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.02 percent to 20,667.57 while the NASDAQ rose 0.08 percent to 5,883.50. The
S&P also rose, gaining 0.01 percent to 2,357.53.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Friday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.
In trading on Friday, financial shares fell 0.16 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included C&F Financial
Corp (NASDAQ: CFFI), down 4 percent, and Norwood
Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: NWFL), down 3
percent.
Top Headline
The U.S. economy added 98,000 new jobs in March, versus an addition of 235,000 jobs in the prior month. However, economists were
expecting a gain of 180,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate declined to 4.5 percent in March, compared to 4.7 percent.
Equities Trading UP
Cleantech Solutions International Inc (NASDAQ: CLNT) shares shot up 22 percent to $8.21 as the company reported that it has
regained compliance with the NASDAQ minimum bid price listing requirement.
Shares of Ryerson Holding Corp (NYSE: RYI) got a
boost, shooting up 17 percent to $14.35. Ryerson expects Q1 net income of $12 million to $15 million.
STRATA Skin Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: SSKN) shares
were also up, gaining 54 percent to $3.93. STRATA Skin Sciences reported a 1-for-5 reverse stock split.
Equities Trading DOWN
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) shares dropped 27
percent to $0.752. DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) reported a
1-for-4 reverse stock split.
Shares of Catalyst Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: CBIO)
were down around 24 percent to $5.58. Catalyst Biosciences reported the pricing of $18 million offering of Class A units at $5 per
unit
Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: BLPH) was
down, falling around 11 percent to $1.31 after the company announced clinical data on INOpulse presented at the 37th Annual Meeting
for the ISHLT.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.66 percent to $52.04 while gold traded up 1.24 percent to $1,268.90.
Silver traded up 0.65 percent Friday to $18.365, while copper fell 1.30 percent to $2.6235.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.31
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.10 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.26 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose
0.05 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.47 percent.
Economics
The U.S. economy added 98,000 new jobs in March, versus an addition of 235,000 jobs in the prior month. However, economists were
expecting a gain of 180,000 jobs. The unemployment rate declined to 4.5 percent in March, compared to 4.7 percent.
U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.4 percent for February.
New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in New York at 12:15 p.m. ET.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Data on consumer credit for February will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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