Nasdaq Gains Over 300 Points; US Employers Cut 23,000 Jobs In July

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 300 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.30% to 54,048.67 while the NASDAQ rose 1.20% to 26,663.54. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.58% to 7,754.64.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares jumped by 1.5% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy stocks fell by 1.4%.

Top Headline

The U.S. labor market unexpectedly weakened in July as a surge in government layoffs pushed overall job growth into negative territory.

Nonfarm payrolls contracted by 23,000 in July, against a consensus estimate of 83,000 and down from June’s downwardly revised 20,000, data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

The unemployment rate came in at 4.1%, versus the 4.2% economists expected.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Doximity Inc (NYSE:DOCS) shares shot up 39% to $28.64 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales results and raised its FY27 sales guidance above estimates.
• Shares of QuinStreet Inc (NASDAQ:QNST) got a boost, surging 38% to $20.98 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued first-quarter sales guidance above estimates.
• Atlassian Corp (NASDAQ:TEAM) shares were also up, gaining 37% to $151.11 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY27 sales guidance above estimates

Equities Trading DOWN

• Sezzle Inc (NASDAQ:SEZL) shares dropped 35% to $115.63 after the company reported second-quarter financial results
• Shares of Nlight Inc (NASDAQ:LASR) were down 24% to $57.35 after the company reported second-quarter results.
• Quidelortho Corp (NASDAQ:QDEL) was down, falling 24% to $12.46 after the company reported second-quarter financial results and cut its FY26 guidance below estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $77.65 while gold traded up 2.4% at $4,400.70.

Silver traded up 3.5% to $63.775 on Friday, while copper fell 1.6% to $6.6045.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.31%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index slipped 0.02% London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.31%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.69%, while France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.17%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.12%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gaining 0.54%, China’s Shanghai Composite rising 1.02% and India’s BSE Sensex falling 0.58%.

Economics

• Nonfarm payrolls contracted by 23,000 in July, against a consensus estimate of 83,000 and down from June’s downwardly revised 20,000, data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.
• The unemployment rate came in at 4.1%, versus the 4.2% economists expected.
• Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% on the month, missing the 0.3% expected, and 3.2% from a year earlier, below the 3.5% predicted.

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