Mid-afternoon market update: Crude oil rises 1%, Janux Therapeutics shares jump

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.1% to 34,432.88 while the NASDAQ rose 0.16% to 14,043.26. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04% to 4,240.72.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,426,990 cases with around 598,750 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 29,274,820 cases and 363,070 deaths, while Brazil reported over 17,210,960 COVID-19 cases with 482,010 deaths. In total, there were at least 174,909,510 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,774,560 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares climbed 0.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included UP Fintech Holding Limited TIGR 10.66%, up 10%, and Siebert Financial Corp. SIEB 9.29%, up 6%.

In trading on Friday, health care shares fell 1%.

Top Headline

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 86.4 in June from 82.9 in May. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 84.

Equities Trading UP

Novan, Inc. NOVN 53.32% shares shot up 63% to $14.71 after the company reported the B-SIMPLE4 pivotal Phase 3 trial of SB206 achieved statistical significance for the primary endpoint and no serious adverse events were reported.

Shares of Janux Therapeutics, Inc. NASDAQJANX got a boost, shooting 42% to $24.21 as the company priced its IPO at $17 per share.

Kanzhun Limited NASDAQBZ shares were also up, gaining 86% to $35.40 after the company priced its IPO at $19 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aptose Biosciences Inc. APTO 33.73% shares tumbled 30% to $3.8550 after the company released highlights from its Luxeptinib clinical program.

Shares of Antelope Enterprise Holdings Limited AEHL 22.07% were down 23% to $3.16 after the company announced pricing of a registered direct offering.

Curis, Inc. CRIS 36.87% was down, falling 37% to $8.04 after the company reported updated data from its ongoing Phase 1/2 study of CA-4948 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $71.05, while gold traded down 0.9% to $1,879.60.

Silver traded up 0.4% Friday to $28.14 while copper rose 1.2% to $4.5375.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.65%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.78% and the German DAX 30 rose 0.78%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.65%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.83% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.31%.

British gross domestic product expanded by 1.5% during the three months to April, while trade deficit narrowed to GBP 0.9 billion in April compared to GBP 2 billion a month ago. Industrial production in the UK fell 1.3% in April.

Wholesale prices in Germany climbed 9.7% year-over-year, notching the biggest surge since July 2008.

Economics

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 86.4 in June from 82.9 in May.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 6 to 365 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.