Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.58 percent to 25,326.55 while the NASDAQ declined 0.76 percent to 7,365.27.
The S&P also fell, dropping 0.76 percent to 2,727.94.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Friday, the consumer staples shares rose 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Nature's Sunshine
Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: NATR) up 24 percent, and
22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE: XXII) up 13
percent.
In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 2.5 percent.
Top Headline
Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
Big Lots said it earned $2.68 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.599 billion versus expectations of $2.30 per
share and $1.6 billion. Big Lots reported a $50 million buyback plan.
Big Lots expects FY19 adjusted earnings of $3.55 to $3.75 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Stellar Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ: SBOT) shares got a boost, shooting up 61 percent to $1.93 after the company
reported a share exchange deal with Edesa Biotech.
Shares of TrovaGene, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROV) shot up 73 percent to $7.14 on continued strength after traders on Thursday
circulated word of an FDA abstract document for the company's prostate cancer treatment; analysts at Maxim and Noble Financial
reiterated bullish positions on the stock.
Seelos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SEEL) shares were also up, gaining 44 percent to $4.3768 after surging 96.13
percent on Thursday. Seelos Therapeutics reported an offering for 15.96 million shares via selling shareholders.
Equities Trading DOWN
CHF Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHFS)
shares dropped 45 percent to $4.34 after the company filed for a $6.21 million offering.
Shares of NV5 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVEE) were down 29 percent to $54.60 after the company reported
lower-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales.
Altimmune, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALT) was down,
falling around 35 percent to $2.9427 after surging 50.33 percent on Thursday. Altimmune reported a $14 million registered direct
offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 3 percent to $54.96 while gold traded up 1 percent to $1,299.00.
Silver traded up 2.2 percent Friday to $15.37, while copper fell 0.5 percent to $2.8965.
Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.9 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.3 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.03 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.5 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.7 percent
while U.K. shares fell 0.7 percent.
Economics
The economy added 20,000 new jobs in February. However, economists were expecting a gain of 181,000 jobs. The unemployment rate
fell to 3.8 percent from 4 percent.
Housing starts rose 19 percent at an annual rate of 1.23 million in January, while housing permits rose 1.4 percent a 1.345
million annual rate.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak in Stanford, CA at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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