Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.23 percent to 24,725.90 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.22 percent to
6,950.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.16 percent to 2,680.30.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Friday afternoon, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.
In trading on Friday, healthcare shares fell 0.40 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Synergy
Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: SGYP), down 6 percent, and
Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ: PACB) down
6 percent.
Top Headline
Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) posted stronger-than-expected
results for its second quarter on Thursday.
The Beaverton-based company reported second quarter earnings of 46 cents per share, beating estimates by 6 cents. Revenues came
in at $8.6 billion, topping estimates by $200 million.
Equities Trading UP
Ignyta Inc (NASDAQ: RXDX) shares shot up 72
percent to $26.77 after Roche agreed to acquire Ignyta for $27.00 per share in cash.
Shares of China Lending Corp (NASDAQ: CLDC) got a
boost, shooting up 33 percent to $3.54. China Lending reported a 2.23 million share offering by selling shareholders.
SMART Global Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGH) shares
were also up, gaining 9 percent to $33.89 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and also
issued strong second-quarter guidance.
Equities Trading DOWN
Agile Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: AGRX) shares
dropped 52 percent to $2.29 after the company reported the receipt of a CRL from the FDA for Twirla NDA. The FDA said it cannot
approve the NDA 'in its present form.'
Shares of ChinaCache International Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: CCIH) were down 18 percent to $1.75 amid weakness in Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency market.
ChinaCache reported six-month loss of $0.64 per share on sales of $60.4 million.
Net Element International Inc (NASDAQ: NETE) was
down, falling around 23 percent to $14.39.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.24 percent to $58.22 while gold traded up 0.61 percent to $1,278.30.
Silver traded up 1.27 percent Friday to $16.445, while copper rose 0.64 percent to $3.24.
Eurozone
European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.19 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.14 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.28 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.39
percent while U.K. shares fell 0.15 percent.
Economics
Durable-goods orders gained 1.3 percent for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 2 percent growth.
U.S. consumer spending gained 0.6 percent in November, while personal income rose 0.3 percent.
New home sales rose 17.5 percent to an annual rate of 733,000 in November.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index slipped to 95.9 in December, from November’s reading of 98.5. Economists
expected a reading of 97.1.
The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index declined to 14.00 for November, versus prior reading of 16.00.
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