Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 2.60% to 34,873.25 while the NASDAQ fell 1.84% to 15,553.65 after a new COVID-19 variant was detected in South Africa. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.99% to 4,608.04.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 48,999,730 cases with around 798,550 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,555,430 cases and 467,460 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,055,600 COVID-19 cases with 613,690 deaths. In total, there were at least 260,465,210 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,202,500 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Health care shares gained by 0.1% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Adagio Therapeutics, Inc. ADGI +24.83% (Get Free Alerts for ADGI), up 31% and Moderna, Inc. MRNA +26.27% (Get Free Alerts for MRNA) up 26%.
In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 5.8%.
Top Headline
The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP) recommended using Pfizer Inc PFE +5.53% - BioNTech SE's BNTX +21.04%'s COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, for children between 5 to 11.
Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine will be given in two 10-microgram doses three weeks apart as an injection in the upper arm, per the EMA recommendation.
Equities Trading UP
Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. AHPI +63.01% shares shot up 62% to $8.71. Shares of mask and protective apparel companies, including Allied Healthcare Products, traded higher amid concerns of a new COVID variant discovered in South Africa.
Shares of Cars.com Inc. CARS +19.72% got a boost, shooting 18% to $15.64. Cars.com will replace DSP Group in the S&P SmallCap 600 before the opening of trading on December 2.
BioNTech SE BNTX +21.04% shares were also up, gaining 20% to $366.20. The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP) recommended using Pfizer- BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, for children between 5 to 11.
Equities Trading DOWN
Laredo Petroleum, Inc. LPI -18.98% shares tumbled 17% to $56.85 amid a dip in oil prices as concerns of a new COVID variant discovered in South Africa weigh on oil demand outlook.
Shares of Pinduoduo Inc. PDD -17.97% were down 18% to $66.89 after the company reported third-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 51% year-on-year to $3.3 billion, missing the consensus of $4.2 billion.
Callon Petroleum Company CPE -20.39% was down, falling 18% to $50.42 amid a dip in oil prices as concerns of a new COVID variant discovered in South Africa weigh on oil demand outlook.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 12.4% to $68.65, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,798.80.
Silver traded down 0.9% Friday to $23.275 while copper fell 3.5% to $4.3035.
Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 3.23%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 4.58% and the German DAX 30 dropped 3.55%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 3.27%, French CAC 40 dipped 4.41% and Italy’s FTSE MIB dropped 3.88%.
Car production in the UK dropped 41.4% year-over-year to 64729 in October, while consumer confidence in Italy fell to 117.5 in November from 118.4 in the prior month. Loans to households in the Eurozone increased 4.1% year-over-year in October.
Economics
The Fed's balance sheet report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
AUD/USD holds above 0.6500 in thin trading
The Australian Dollar managed to recover ground against its American rival after AUD/USD fell to 0.6484. The upbeat tone of Wall Street underpinned the Aussie despite broad US Dollar strength and tepid Australian data.
EUR/USD comfortable below 1.0800 lower lows at sight
The EUR/USD pair lost ground on Thursday and settled near a fresh March low of 1.0774. Strong US data and hawkish Fed speakers comments lead the way ahead of the release of the US PCE Price Index on Friday.
Gold price finishes Thursday’s session set to reach new all-time highs
Gold price rallied during the North American session on Thursday and hit a new all-time high of $2,225 in the mid-North American session. Precious metal prices are trending higher even though US Treasury yields are advancing, underpinning the Greenback.
Bitcoin price extends retreat from $69K as old whales shift their holdings to new whales
Bitcoin price continues to move further away from the $69,000 threshold, gaining ground as BTC bulls hope for a retest of the $73,777 peak. This is because of the general assumption that clearing this blockade would set the tone for a reach higher, marking a new all-time high.
Bears have been standing before a steamroller so far this year
Despite a pushback on rate cuts from Christopher Waller, and what was supposed to be cautious trading sentiment ahead of critical US inflation data released later on Friday, the S&P 500 rose on Thursday, marking its best first-quarter performance in five years.