Crude Oil Falls Over 1%; Willdan Group Shares Spike Higher

U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 80 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.21% to 38,874.05 while the NASDAQ fell 0.42% to 16,204.26. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.13% to 5,150.72.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares jumped by 1.1% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer staples shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

Nonfarm payrolls beat economist estimates, coming at 275,000 in February compared to the expected 200,000. The unemployment rate rose from 3.7% to 3.9%, surprising estimates of 3.7%.

Average hourly wages grew at a 0.1% monthly pace in February, easing from the downwardly revised 0.5% growth in January, and below the expected 0.3%.

Equities Trading UP

Willdan Group, Inc. WLDN shares shot up 27% to $25.16 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY24 guidance above estimates. Also, the company secured a contract worth approximately $30 million to $50 million over three years.

Shares of Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. GIFI got a boost, surging 23% to $6.35 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter revenue results.

Grifols, S.A. GRFS shares were also up, gaining 20% to $6.72 after the company announced it published its consolidated annual accounts for 2023.

Equities Trading DOWN

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMLX shares dropped 82% to $3.51 after the company announced its PHOENIX phase 3 trial of AMX0035 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis did not meet its primary endpoint and there was no statistical significance seen in secondary endpoints.

Shares of Next.e.GO N.V. EGOX were down 34% to $0.0760.

BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. BBAI was down, falling 31% to $2.58 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.2% to $77.99 while gold traded up 1.6% at $2,198.80.

Silver traded up 0.4% to $24.68 on Friday while copper fell 0.7% to $3.90.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.02%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.43% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.13% The German DAX fell 0.16% French CAC 40 rose 0.15% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.04%.

The eurozone economy stagnated during the fourth quarter compared to a 0.1% decline in the prior three-month period. French trade deficit increased to €7.4 billion in January from €6.4 billion in the prior month. Spanish industrial output declined by 0.6% year-over-year in January. Producer prices in Germany declined by 4.4% year-over-year in January, while industrial output increased by 1.0% month-over-month for January.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.23%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.76% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.61%.

The gauge for Japan’s service sector climbed to 51.3 in February versus prior month’s reading of 50.2. The index of leading economic indicators in Japan fell to 109.9 in January versus a revised reading of 110.5 in December, while index of coincident economic indicators fell to 110.2 in January versus a revised 116.0 in the previous month. Household spending in Japan dipped by 6.3% year-over-year in January.

Economics

Nonfarm payrolls beat economist estimates, coming at 275,000 in February compared to the expected 200,000.

The unemployment rate rose from 3.7% to 3.9%, surprising estimates of 3.7%.

Average hourly wages grew at a 0.1% monthly pace in February, easing from the downwardly revised 0.5% growth in January, and below the expected 0.3%.

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