Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.24% to 27159.79 while the NASDAQ rose 0.01% to 8183.11. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.15% to 3011.23.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Health care shares climbed 0.9% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Gamida Cell Ltd. GMDA 14.81%, up 22%, and Mallinckrodt plc MNK 2.25%, up 9%.
In trading on Friday, communication services shares fell 0.3%.
Top Headline
Steelcase Inc. SCS 9.34% reported better-than-expected Q2 results on Thursday.
Earnings came in at 50 cents per share, beating estimates by 7 cents. Sales came in at $998 million, beating estimates by $17.13 million.
Equities Trading UP
McDermott International, Inc. MDR 32.48% shares shot up 65% to $2.6113 after the company announced it will explore strategic alternatives for Lummus Technology. The company recently received unsolicited offers to acquire Lummus with a valuation of over $2.5 billion.
Shares of Steelcase Inc. SCS 9.34% got a boost, shooting up 8% to $18.02 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results
California Resources Corporation CRC 17.78% shares were also up, gaining 20% to $11.89 after falling 29.46% on Thursday.
Equities Trading DOWN
InspireMD, Inc. NSPR 42.69% shares tumbled 42% to $1.50 after the company priced its underwritten public offering of 2.77 million units at $1.80 per unit.
Shares of SMTC Corporation SMTX 11.56% were down 10% to $2.65 after the company reported plan to exit China and issued weak sales forecast.
Roku, Inc. ROKU 17.61% was down, falling 13% to $116.85 after Pivotal Research initiated coverage on the stock with a Sell rating and a $60 price target.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $58.66, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,509.50.
Silver traded down 0.2% Friday to $17.855, while copper rose 0.3% to $2.615.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.45%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.69%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.43%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.13%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.6% while UK shares rose 0.03%.
Economics
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Corpus Christi, Texas at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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