Market Update
U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 50 points on Friday.
The Dow traded up 0.13% to 37,490.36 while the NASDAQ rose 0.25% to 14,546.77. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.26% to 4,701.05.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communication services shares jumped by 0.3% on Friday.
In trading on Friday, consumer staples shares fell by 0.8%.
Constellation Brands Inc’s Performance
Constellation Brands Inc STZ posted upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates.
Constellation Brands reported third-quarter FY24 net sales growth of 1.4% year-on-year to $2.47 billion, missing the analyst consensus of $2.54 billion. Comparable EPS of $3.19 beat the consensus estimate of $3.00.
Constellation cut FY24 reported EPS outlook from $9.60 – $9.80 to $9.15 – $9.35. The company raised FY24 operating cash flow forecast from $2.4 billion – $2.6 billion to $2.6 billion – $2.8 billion and free cash flow outlook from $1.2 billion – $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion – $1.5 billion.
Equities Trading UP
AxoGen, Inc. AXGN shares shot up 24% to $8.40 as the company reported preliminary unaudited revenue for fourth quarter and full-year 2023. The company also said President and Chief Executive Officer Karen Zaderej plans to retire from the Company by Jan. 2025.
Shares of Banzai International, Inc. BNZI got a boost, surging 66% to $2.76. Banzai International signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire IGLeads, a cutting-edge automated lead generation platform.
Revelstone Capital Acquisition Corp. RCAC shares were also up, gaining 90% to $10.73. Revelstone Capital Acquisition cancelled special meeting to approve business combination with Set Jet, Inc.
Equities Trading DOWN
Applied Therapeutics, Inc. APLT shares dropped 38% to $2.3525 after the company released topline results of the ARISE-HF Phase 3 trial of AT-001 (caficrestat) in patients with Diabetic Cardiomyopathy (DbCM) at high risk of progression to overt heart failure.
Shares of agilon health, inc. AGL were down 32% to $8.18 after the company lowered its 2023 financial outlook.
Medical Properties Trust, Inc. MPW was down, falling 31% to $3.4650 after it disclosed plans to reduce its exposure to tenant Steward Health Care System. Keybanc analyst Austin Wurschmidt downgraded Medical Properties Trust from Overweight to Sector Weight.
Commodities Performance
In commodity news, oil traded up 2.3% to $73.83 while gold traded down 0.1% at $2,047.90.
Silver traded up 0.6% to $23.335 on Friday while copper fell 1% to $3.8060.
Global Market Overview
European shares closed mostly lower on Friday, reflecting a cautious sentiment. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.27%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.43% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.18%. The German DAX fell 0.14% French CAC 40 fell 0.40% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.12%.
In the Asia Pacific region, markets closed mixed with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.27%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.66% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.85%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.25%.
U.S. Economic Indicators
The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December versus a revised 173,000 in November, and compared to market estimates of 170,000.
The unemployment rate in the U.S. came in unchanged at 3.7% in December, compared to market estimates of 3.8%.
Average hourly earnings for all employees on US private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.4% over a month to $34.27 for December.
The ISM services PMI declined to 50.6 in December, recording the weakest reading in seven months, versus November’s reading of 52.7.
U.S. factory orders rose 2.6% month-over-month in November versus a revised 3.4% decline in October.
The total number of active U.S. oil rigs climbed by 1 to 501 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.
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