U.S. stocks were in the red towards the end of trading, as the Nasdaq Composite dropped around 0.5% on Friday.
The Dow traded down 0.24% to 38,681.46 while the NASDAQ fell 0.56% to 15,816.84. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping 0.27% to 5,016.06.
Sector Performance
Materials shares saw a rise by 0.8% on Friday.
In contrast, communication services shares experienced a 1.4% decline in trading on Friday.
Market Headlines
Shares of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (THS) plunged around 16% on Friday after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue results and issued a FY24 outlook below estimates.
The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of 77 cents, beating the analyst consensus of 73 cents. However, quarterly net sales of $910.8 million missed the consensus of $925.44 million.
Equities Making Moves Upward
The Trade Desk, Inc. (TTD) saw its shares spike up 17% to $88.65 after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results.
Shares of PRA Group, Inc. (PRAA) also surged 13% to $27.66 following upbeat results.
Fusion Fuel Green PLC (HTOO) shares gained 108% to $2.4999 after receiving approval for its HEVO-Portugal project under the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) Hy2Infra program.
Equities in Decline
China Natural Resources, Inc. (CHNR) witnessed a 49% drop to $1.77 after announcing a registered direct placement of $3.27 million of common shares and private placement warrants.
Shares of Bloom Energy Corporation (BE) were down 20% to $9.63 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.
Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. (CPS) plummeted 28% to $13.92 following weak quarterly results.
Commodity Movements
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.4% to $79.15, while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,023.10.
Silver rose 2.2% to $23.465 on Friday, and copper saw a 1.7% increase to $3.8235.
Euro Zone
European shares closed higher on the day, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 gaining 0.62%. London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.5%, but Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell by 0.41%. The German DAX rose 0.42% and the French CAC 40 rose 0.32%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index also experienced a 0.12% increase.
The annual inflation rate in France eased to 3.1% in January from 3.7% in the prior month, and German wholesale prices declined by 2.7% year-over-year in January. Additionally, retail sales volumes in the UK rose by 3.4% month-over-month in January.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.86%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 2.48%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex experiencing a 0.6% increase.
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports surged 16.8% year-over-year in January, surpassing market estimates of a 5.4% rise.
Economic Trends
U.S. producer prices for final demand rose 0.3% month-over-month in January, marking the biggest rise in five months, compared to a 0.1% fall in the previous month. However, analysts were expecting a 0.1% increase in producer prices.
U.S. building permits fell by 1.5% to an annual rate of 1.470 million in January. Additionally, housing starts in the U.S. dipped 14.8% month-over-month to an annual rate of 1.331 million in January. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment rose to a reading of 79.6 in February from 79 in January.