The US stock market exhibited a mixed performance on Friday. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down 0.22% to 41,244.09, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.27% to 17,563.29, and the S&P 500 gained 0.11% to 5,598.07.
The information technology sector saw a rise of 0.7% on Thursday, while the energy sector experienced a decline of 0.6%.
In terms of headline economic news, the US core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, a key measure of inflation, increased by 0.2% from the previous month in July, aligning with market expectations and following a similar rise in June.
Several individual stocks saw significant movement:
Equities Trading UP
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Brenmiller Energy Ltd (BNRG):
Shares surged 165% to $1.79 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in its first-half earnings per share (EPS) and announced a projected pipeline worth up to $500 million.*
Focus Universal Inc. (FCUV):
The stock climbed 47% to $0.2802 following a Form 4 filing that revealed CEO Desheng Wang purchased 302,100 shares at an average price of $0.18 per share.*
MongoDB, Inc. (MDB):
Shares gained 14% to $280.02 after the company announced better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued strong guidance on Thursday.Equities Trading DOWN
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Paltalk, Inc. (PALT):
Shares dropped 34% to $3.6297 after the company was awarded $65.7 million in a District Court verdict against Cisco, with post-trial proceedings still pending.*
Catheter Precision, Inc. (VTAK):
Shares declined 53% to $0.6490 after the company announced the pricing of a $3.1 million underwritten public offering.*
Elastic N.V. (ESTC):
Shares fell 28% to $75.13 after the company reported first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter revenue guidance below estimates.In commodity markets, oil traded down 2.4% to $74.08, gold dipped 0.4% to $2,549.80, silver decreased 0.8% to $29.74, and copper rose 0.2% to $4.2315.
European markets exhibited a positive trend on Friday, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 index gaining 0.23%. Germany’s DAX rose 0.12%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.17%, Spain’s IBEX 35 Index gained 0.39%, and London’s FTSE 100 increased 0.17%. The Eurozone unemployment rate eased to a record low of 6.4% in July, down from 6.5% in June. The annual inflation rate in the Eurozone declined to 2.2% in August from 2.6% in July.
Asian markets also ended the day higher on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.74%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.14%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.68%, and India’s BSE Sensex increased 0.28%. The Indian economy expanded by 6.7% year-over-year in the June quarter, compared to a 7.8% increase in the previous period. Retail sales in Hong Kong fell 13.3% year-over-year in July.
In the US, personal income rose 0.3% to $24.015 trillion in July, while personal spending increased 0.5%. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised higher to 67.9 in August from a preliminary level of 67.8. The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to 46.1 in August from 45.3 in July, beating market expectations of 45.5.
