U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 400 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 0.97% to 40,360.43 while the NASDAQ fell 2.53% to 16,694.51. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.69% to 5,410.46.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares fell by just 0.3% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, information technology shares dipped by 2.6%.

Top Headline

The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in August versus a revised 89,000 gain in July, but down from market estimates of 160,000.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in August from 4.3% in the previous month.

Equities Trading UP

BloomZ Inc. ( BLMZ ) shares shot up 159% to $2.0950 after the company announced it entered into a business agreement with CrossVision for joint entertainment offerings.

Shares of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. ( WHLR ) got a boost, surging 126% to $9.34 after the company and its subsidiary, Cedar Realty Trust, announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a 2023 order dismissing a putative class action complaint filed against the company and Cedar by purported holders of Cedar’s preferred stock.

Argan, Inc. ( AGX ) shares were also up, gaining 30% to $92.75 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Braze, Inc. ( BRZE ) shares dropped 17% to $36.70 after the company reported quarterly financial results.

Shares of Planet Labs PBC ( PL ) were down 21% to $1.9707 after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter sales results. Also, Needham maintained a Buy rating on the stock but lowered its price target from $7 to $5.

Genesco Inc. ( GCO ) was down, falling 14% to $25.33 following second-quarter results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.2% to $69.98 while gold traded down 0.3% at $2,536.70.

Silver traded down 0.2% to $29.04 on Friday, while copper fell 0.6% to $4.1130.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.13%, Germany's DAX fell 0.13% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.22%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.32%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.01%.

The GDP in the Eurozone grew by 0.2% on quarter during the second quarter. The number of employed persons in the Eurozone increased by 0.2% from the prior quarter during the three months to June.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.72%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.81% and India's BSE Sensex falling 1.24%.

Foreign exchange reserves held by the Reserve Bank of India jumped to $684 billion as of Aug. 30, 2024.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 142,000 jobs in August versus a revised 89,000 gain in July, but down from market estimates of 160,000.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in August from 4.3% in the previous month.

Average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 0.4% to $35.21 in August compared to a 0.2% gain in July.

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