As U.S. stocks surged in afternoon trading, the Nasdaq Composite leaped more than 200 points on Friday, signaling a bullish trend in the market.
At midday, the Dow climbed 1.01% to 38,987.23, the NASDAQ rose by 1.50% to 16,289.37, and the S&P 500 saw a gain of 1.29% to reach 5,213.49.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
In Friday’s trading session, communication services shares saw a robust 1.9% increase.
Meanwhile, utilities shares only managed a meager rise of 0.2%.
Top Headline
The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that U.S. employers added 303,000 nonfarm payrolls in March, exceeding February’s 270,000 and surpassing the anticipated 212,000.
Moreover, the unemployment rate dipped from 3.9% to 3.8%, surpassing expectations as well.
Equities Trading UP
MediaCo Holding Inc. MDIA shares soared by a staggering 207% to $4.2946 after Standard General L.P. disclosed a 95.2% ownership stake in the company as of April 1, 2024.
Shares of GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc. GCTS surged by 47% to $8.41 following an MOU signing with Aramco to advance the 4G and 5G landscape in Saudi Arabia.
HUB Cyber Security Ltd. HUBC also witnessed a 61% increase to reach $1.6781 after securing $8 million in financing through a straight debt arrangement.
Equities Trading DOWN
Semantix, Inc. STIX plummeted by 40% to $0.5251 after announcing its voluntary delisting from the Nasdaq Global Market.
Shares of Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. ZGN tumbled by 15% to $11.89 due to the company’s FY23 financial report.
Biodesix, Inc. BDSX dropped by 11% to $1.35 following the pricing of its oversubscribed underwritten offering of common stock and concurrent private placement.
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Commodities
In commodities news, oil rose by 0.6% to $87.09, while gold surged by 1.6% to $2,346.00.
Silver jumped by 1.1% to $27.55, yet copper declined by 0.5% to $4.23 on Friday.
Eurozone
European markets witnessed a decline today, with multiple indices dropping – the STOXX 600 by 0.97%, the FTSE 100 by 0.96%, the IBEX 35 Index by 1.72%, the DAX by 1.31%, the French CAC 40 by 1.29%, and the FTSE MIB Index by 1.53%.
In economic news, retail sales in the eurozone fell by 0.5% month-over-month in February, while the HCOB Eurozone construction PMI dropped to 42.4 in March from 42.9 in the prior month.
The S&P Global UK construction PMI surged to 50.2 in March, the highest level since August 2023, and UK’s Halifax House Price Index rose by 0.3% year-over-year in March. Meanwhile, German construction PMI decreased to 38.3 in March from 39.1 in February, and French construction PMI slipped from 41.9 to 41.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asia’s markets closed with mixed results on Friday, as the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell by 1.96%, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped by 0.01%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose by 0.03%.
The index of leading economic indicators in Japan climbed to 111.8 in February from the final level of 109.5 the previous month, whereas the index of coincident economic indicators fell to 110.9 in February from a final 112.1. The S&P Global Hong Kong SAR PMI escalated to 50.9 in March, up from 49.7 in February.
Economics
March saw U.S. employers add 303,000 nonfarm payrolls, a rise from February’s 270,000 and surpassing the expected 212,000. Additionally, the unemployment rate decreased from 3.9% to 3.8%, beating projections.
Average hourly earnings also saw a slight decline from 4.3% to 4.1%, aligning closely with forecasts.
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