U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 100 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.32% to 42,715.95 while the NASDAQ gained 0.57% to 18,172.21. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.41% to 5,762.11.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 1.5% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, financial shares dipped by 0.6%.

Top Headline

The February jobs report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, released Friday, showed a moderate increase in employment and also a slight increase in the unemployment rate.

The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February, up from a downwardly revised 125,000 in January, but below expectations of 160,000, as tracked by Trading Economics. The unemployment rate ticked unexpectedly higher to 4.1%, above the 4.0% expected.

Equities Trading UP

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. ( WHLR ) shares shot up 37% to $1.4395.

Shares of SUNation Energy Inc. ( SUNE ) got a boost, surging 148% to $0.4401. SUNation Energy ( SUNE ) named James Brennan to fill the role of CFO, effective immediately, in addition to his role serving as COO.

Bit Origin Ltd ( BTOG ) shares were also up, gaining 64% to $0.4587.

Equities Trading DOWN

AGM Group Holdings Inc. ( AGMH ) shares dropped 24% to $0.1639. AGM Group Holdings ( AGMH ) recently completed a $5.4 million public offering to expand bitcoin mining operations.

Shares of Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( ACXP ) were down 24% to $0.4933 after the company announced a $1.1 million registered direct offering.

Abits Group Inc. ( ABTS ) was down, falling 19% to $0.2555. Abits Group ( ABTS ) recently announced share structure changes and consolidation.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $67.21 while gold traded down 0.2% at $2,922.20.

Silver traded down 1.4% to $32.880 on Friday, while copper fell 1.7% to $4.7270.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.6%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 1.8% and France's CAC 40 dipped 1.2%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.3%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei dipping 2.17%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.25% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.57%, India's BSE Sensex falling 0.01%.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February, up from a downwardly revised 125,000 in January, but below expectations of 160,000, as tracked by Trading Economics.

The unemployment rate ticked unexpectedly higher to 4.1%, above the 4.0% expected.

Average hourly earnings for all employees increased by 0.3% to $35.93, representing a 4.0% increase over the past 12 months.

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