U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones gaining around 75 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.19% to 40,638.81 while the NASDAQ rose 0.25% to 17,638.93. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.16% to 5,551.89.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed by 0.4% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, materials shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment climbed to 67.8 in August from 66.4 in the prior month and topping market estimates of 66.9.

Equities Trading UP

Cingulate Inc. ( CING ) shares shot up 94% to $9.32 after the company on Thursday was granted European patent No. 3261625 for CTx-1301, its lead asset for the treatment of ADHD.

Shares of Zoomcar Holdings, Inc. ( ZCAR ) got a boost, surging 100% to $0.2219 after the company reported first-quarter results.

H&R Block, Inc. ( HRB ) shares were also up, gaining 18% to $68.10 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY25 guidance above estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sonida Senior Living, Inc. ( SNDA ) shares dropped 16% to $26.89 after the company announced the pricing of an upsized public offering of 4.3 million shares at $27 per share.

Shares of Shimmick Corporation ( SHIM ) were down 23% to $2.5309 after the company reported worse-than-expected quarterly financial results.

ENDRA Life Sciences Inc. ( NDRA ) was down, falling 25% to $0.0389 after the company announced a 1-for-50 reverse stock split, effective on August 20.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.8% to $76.76 while gold traded up 1.4% at $2,527.10.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $28.445 on Friday, while copper fell 0.7% to $4.1220.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.17%, Germany's DAX rose 0.64% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.13%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.55%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.44%.

The Eurozone recorded a trade surplus of EUR 22.3 billion in June, higher than market expectations of EUR 13.3 billion. Retail sales in the UK climbed 0.5% month-over-month in July compared to a revised 0.9% decline in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 jumping 3.64%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbing 1.88%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.07% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 1.68%.

Hong Kong's economy grew by 3.3% year-over-year in the second quarter compared to a 2.8% increase in the previous period, while unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3% in the three months ending July.

Economics

Housing starts in the U.S. declined by 6.8% from the prior month to an annualized rate of 1.238 million in July.

Building permits dropped by 4% to an annual rate of 1.396 million in July.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment climbed to 67.8 in August from 66.4 in the prior month and topping market estimates of 66.9.

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