Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.23% to 28489.88 while the NASDAQ rose 0.75% to 11506.40. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.45% to 3462.25.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,607,950 cases with around 212,780 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 6,906,150 confirmed cases and 106,490 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,028,440 COVID-19 cases with 148,950 deaths. In total, there were at least 36,574,080 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,062,650 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Information technology shares jumped 0.9% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included MicroVision, Inc. MVIS, up 25%, and Extreme Networks, Inc. EXTR, up 17%.
In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.7%.
Top Headline
Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD is in late-stage discussions to acquire Xilinx Inc XLNX, and a deal could be finalized as soon as next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Xilinx acquisition is estimated close to $30 billion, a record valuation in the semiconductor industry.
Equities Trading UP
VivoPower International PLC VVPR shares shot up 61% to $16.18 after the company announced its executives signed a definitive agreement to acquire 51% of a light electric vehicle company called Tembo e-LV.
Shares of MicroVision, Inc. MVIS got a boost, shooting 26% to $2.82 following a Seeking Alpha article suggesting 'MicroVision LiDAR Is Worth $2 Billion According To Valuation Of Velodyne And Luminar LiDAR By Ford, Baidu, Hyundai, Volvo.'
Just Energy Group Inc. JE shares were also up, gaining 25% to $7.00 after gaining over 5% on Thursday.
Equities Trading DOWN
ShiftPixy, Inc. PIXY shares tumbled 24% to $2.7452 after the company announced the pricing of a 4 million share public offering at $3 per share.
Shares of Houston American Energy Corp. HUSA were down 17% to $1.95. Houston American Energy, last month, announced the Frost #2-H frac has been completed and will go into production within a week..
AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. AGE was down, falling 12% to $2.1805. AgeX Therapeutics shares climbed 194% on Thursday following an amended 13D filing showing Juvenescence Limited has a 50% stake in the company.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $40.89, while gold traded up 1.7% to $1,927.10.
Silver traded up 3.3% Friday to $24.670 while copper rose 1.7% to $3.0945.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.5%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.2%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.2%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.7% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 1%.
Britain's economy expanded for the fourth consecutive month, rising by 2.1% in August. However, the country’s industrial production rose 0.3% in August, versus a 5.2% surge in July.
Economics
US wholesale inventories rose 0.4% for August.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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