In a flickering market, U.S. stocks rode a wave higher on Friday. The Nasdaq Composite led the charge with an impressive 1% gain. The Dow, however, couldn’t shake off its blues and traded down 0.09% to 38,691.21 while the NASDAQ soared 1.26% to 15,992.17. The broader-based S&P 500 also advanced, gaining 0.55% to 5,025.21.
Investors on the sidelines peeked and prodded as crude oil climbed 0.8% to $76.83, driving an attentive frenzy in the stock market. Information technology shares prominently ascended by 1.4%, while the energy sector sputtered, declining by 1.2%.
A Lackluster Outlook from Newell Brands
Amidst the jubilant trading atmosphere, Newell Brands Inc. unveiled its fourth-quarter sales, sending mixed signals to investors. The company stunned the street with its $2.076 billion revenues, trumping the analysts’ consensus of $1.980 billion, yet marking a 9.1% fall year over year. Normalized EPS of 22 cents surpassed the consensus of 17 cents. However, the future looks grim as Newell Brands predicts a grim FY24 sales decline of 8% to 5%, projecting adjusted EPS expected to be 52 cents to 62 cents, a far cry from the street’s estimates of 77 cents.
Movers and Shakers
In a sea of fluctuating stock prices, certain equities notably surged. Intelligent Bio Solutions Inc. caught the attention of traders as its shares skyrocketed by 254% to $10.19 following second-quarter results. Meanwhile, shares of Masonite International Corporation saw a hefty 35% surge to $130.24 after Owens Corning announced its intentions to acquire the company for a jaw-dropping $3.9 billion. Cloudflare, Inc. also rode the wave, with its shares leaping by an impressive 21% to $108.95 subsequent to reporting better-than-expected Q4 results.
On the flip side, The Children’s Place, Inc. felt the sting with its shares plummeting 40% to $11.84 after delivering gloomy fourth-quarter net sales projections. Synlogic, Inc. wasn’t spared as its stock crumbled by 49% to $1.75 upon announcing the cessation of operations and slashing its workforce. The pain extended to EMCORE Corporation as well, with its shares falling 37% to $0.3943 after posting lackluster quarterly results.
Market and Commodity Movement
The influx of market movements was mirrored in the commodities realm. Oil surged 0.8% to $76.83, while gold took a hit, dropping 0.4% to $2,039.40. Silver took a dip as well, declining by 0.2% to $22.585, and copper followed suit, falling 0.5% to $3.6830.
Global Market Pulse
In Europe, shares wavered as the eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.3092%, London’s FTSE 100 took a 0.30% hit, and Spain’s IBEX 35 Index dropped 0.09%. The German DAX and French CAC 40 also stumbled, declining by 0.22% and 0.24%, respectively, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index managed to eke out a 0.30% gain. Italy marked a positive beat as industrial production rose by 1.1% month-over-month in December, while German consumer price inflation clocked in at 2.9% year-over-year in January.
Across the expanse of Asia Pacific markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slightly gained 0.09%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index succumbed to a downturn of 0.83%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex made modest ground, rising by 0.20%.
U.S. Economic Indicators
Wrapping up the day, the U.S. CPI rose by 0.2% month-over-month in December, slightly shy of the initially reported 0.3% gain. Baker Hughes Inc reported that the total number of active U.S. oil rigs held steady at 499 rigs this week.
