Mid-day market update: Nasdaq tumbles 150 points, Marin Software shares jump

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.17% to 36,175.08 while the NASDAQ fell 1.02% to 14,927.31. The S&P also fell, dropping, 0.45% to 4,674.76.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 59,564,110 cases with around 855,840 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 35,226,380 cases and 483,170 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,395,320 COVID-19 cases with 619,730 deaths. In total, there were at least 301,006,860 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,491,880 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 0.8% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sabine Royalty Trust SBR +6.78%, up 6% and PetroChina Company Limited PTR +5.98%  up 5%.

In trading on Friday, information technology shares fell 1.2%.

Top Headline

The US economy added just 199,000 jobs in December, well below analysts’ estimates of 422,000. The unemployment rate, however, dropped to 3.9%, the lowest since February 2020. Wage growth was 4.7%, down slightly from 4.7% in November.

Equities Trading UP

Marin Software Incorporated MRIN +25.21% shares shot up 27% to $4.3750 after the company announced an integration with Amazon Ads' demand-side platform.

Shares of Absci Corporation ABSI +24.69% got a boost, shooting 31% to $8.07 after the company announced a research collaboration with Merck.

Discovery, Inc. DISCA +16.29% shares were also up, gaining 19% to $30.67 after B of A Securities upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and raised its price target from $34 to $45.

Equities Trading DOWN

Siyata Mobile Inc. SYTA -42.41% shares tumbled 41% to $1.90 after the company announced pricing of a $20 million underwritten public offering.

Shares of Aehr Test Systems AEHR -18.46% were down 17% to $17.00 after reporting Q2 results.

Kura Sushi USA, Inc. KRUS -21.11% was down, falling 16% to $58.66 as the company posted downbeat Q1 sales.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $79.14, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,790.50.

Silver traded down 0.3% Friday to $22.135 while copper rose 0.5% to $4.3765.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.58%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.28%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.58%. The German DAX dropped 0.85%, French CAC 40 declined 0.65% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.44%.

French current account deficit widened to EUR 3.6 billion in November from a revised EUR 2.5 billion gap in the prior month, while trade deficit increased to EUR 9.73 billion from EUR 7.70 billion. France's industrial production dropped 0.4% in November.

German trade surplus shrank to €12 billion in November from €16.8 billion in the year-ago period, while current account surplus fell to EUR 18.9 billion from EUR 21.7 billion. Industrial production in Germany fell 0.2% from a month ago in November. The Halifax house price index in the UK surged 9.8% year-over-year in December.

Economics

The US economy added just 199,000 jobs in December, well below analysts’ estimates of 422,000. The unemployment rate, however, dropped to 3.9%, the lowest since February 2020. Wage growth was 4.7%, down slightly from 4.7% in November.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.