Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 3.39 percent to 23,455.03 while the NASDAQ climbed 4.45 percent to 6,751.09
The S&P also rose, gaining 3.54 percent to 2,534.46.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Friday afternoon, the information technology shares climbed 4.2 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included
Intelligent Systems Corporation (NYSE: INS) up 14 percent, and
Borqs Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: BRQS) up 47 percent.
In trading on Friday, utilities shares rose by just 0.8 percent.
Top Headline
The U.S. economy added 312,000 new jobs in December. However, economists were expecting a gain of 182,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate increased to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent.
Equities Trading UP
Flex Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLKS) shares got a boost,
shooting up 46 percent to $0.5594 after the company reported a merger with Salarius Pharma.
Shares of Borqs Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRQS) shot
up 47 percent to $4.62.
American Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: AMID) shares were
also up, gaining 25 percent to $3.9500 after the company reported that it has received revised buyout offer from ArcLight at $4.50
per unit.
Equities Trading DOWN
Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCUS) shares dropped 16
percent to $8.74 after the company disclosed that Jennifer Jarrett will step down as CFO and COO.
Shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: AVDL) were
down 11 percent to $2.7379.
Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: COCP) was down, falling
around 8 percent to $3.7956.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.74 percent to $47.91 while gold traded down 0.59 percent to $1,287.10.
Silver traded up 0.05 percent Friday to $15.805, while copper rose 2.73 percent to $2.638.
Eurozone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 2.83 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 2.52 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 3.37 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 3.37 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 2.72
percent while U.K. shares rose 2.16 percent.
Economics
The U.S. economy added 312,000 new jobs in December. However, economists were expecting a gain of 182,000 jobs. The unemployment
rate increased to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent.
The final reading of HIS Markit services PMI rose to 54.4 in December, versus initial reading of 53.6.
Domestic supplies of natural gas dropped 20 billion cubic feet for the week ended December 28, the U.S. Energy Information
Administration reported. Analysts projected a fall of 42 billion cubic feet.
Domestic crude supplies rose 7,000 barrels to 441.4 million barrels for the latest week, the Energy Information Administration
reported. Analysts expected a drop of 1.3 million barrels Gasoline stockpiles rose 6.9 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles
climbed 9.5 million barrels last week.
The total number of active U.S. oil rigs slipped by 8 at 877 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.
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