As of midday on Friday, US stocks were trading higher, with the Nasdaq Composite up more than 200 points.
The Dow was up by 0.84% at 33,040.70, while the NASDAQ increased by 1.72% to 12,916.67. The S&P 500 rose by 1.02% to 4,193.19.
Consumer discretionary shares rose by 2.5% on Friday, with top gainers in the sector including GigaCloud Technology Inc. (GCT) up 18% and PDD Holdings Inc. (PDD) up 17%. In contrast, utilities shares fell 0.8% in Friday’s trading.
Top Headline
Big Lots, Inc. (BIG) shares fell by around 15% after the company reported its first-quarter results. The company’s Q1 FY23 sales declined by 18.3% year-on-year to $1.124 billion, missing the consensus of $1.19 billion. The company’s adjusted EPS loss of $(3.40) also missed the analyst consensus of $(1.77).
- Onfolio Holdings, Inc. (ONFO) shares increased by 64% to $1.9209 following the announcement that the company had completed the development of a generative AI search tool.
- MediaAlpha, Inc. (MAX) shares rose 32% to $10.00 after White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. and WM Hinson commenced a tender offer for up to 5 million shares of MediaAlpha stock.
- Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL) shares gained 27% to $62.81 after the company reported strong Q1 results and announced it expects AI revenue to double by 2024.
- SpringBig Holdings, Inc. (SBIG) shares dropped 21% to $0.2401 as the company announced the pricing of public offering of 13 million shares of its common stock at an at-the-market price of $0.3037.
- Tilray Brands, Inc. (TLRY) shares fell by 21% to $1.87 after announcing the pricing of a registered offering of $150 million of unsecured convertible senior notes.
- Canaan Inc. (CAN) shares were down, falling 18% to $2.1050, following the announcement of worse-than-expected Q1 results.
Commodities
On Friday, oil traded up by 1.2% to $72.69, while gold traded down 0.2% at $1,940.30. Silver traded up 1.3% to $23.21, while copper rose 2% to $3.6582.
Euro zone
European shares were higher on Friday, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 up by 1.25%. London’s FTSE 100 rose by 0.88%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose by 0.99%. The German DAX climbed 1.26%, French CAC 40 increased by 1.38%, and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose by 1.22%.
Consumer confidence in Italy fell to 105.1 in May from 105.5 in April, while the manufacturing confidence index in Italy dropped to 101.4 in May versus a revised reading of 102.8. The consumer confidence indicator in France remained unchanged at 83 in May. Retail sales volumes in the UK increased by 0.5% from a month ago in April.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.37% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index increasing by 0.35%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose by 1%.
The index of leading economic indicators in Japan fell to 97.7 in March from a final reading of 98.2 a month ago, while the index of coincident economic indicators rose to 98.8 in March from 98.7 in the previous month. Retail sales in Australia for April remained unchanged from the previous month at AUD 35.3 billion.
- The U.S. trade deficit in goods increased to $96.8 billion in April versus a revised $84.6 billion in the prior month.
- Personal spending in the U.S. rose by 0.8% month-over-month in April, while personal income increased by 0.4%.
- The personal consumption expenditure price index in the U.S. rose by 0.4% month-over-month in April versus a 0.1% growth in March.
- Wholesale inventories in the U.S. dropped by 0.2% month-over-month in April versus a 0.3% decline in March.
According to reports, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. stands at 107,081,650 with approximately 1,164,930 deaths, making it the country with the highest number of cases and deaths. India recorded a total of at least 44,988,420 cases and 531,850 deaths, while France reported over 40,070,560 COVID-19 cases and 167,200 deaths. The total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide was at least 689,274,730 with more than 6,882,700 deaths.
