U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining by more than 200 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.20% to 38,162.13 while the NASDAQ rose 1.36% to 15,823.47. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.73% to 5,085.46.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 4.9% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares dipped by 1.2%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation – the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index – rose more than expected in March. The headline PCE price index rose from 2.5% in February 2024 to 2.7% year-on-year in March, beating forecasts of a 2.6% increase, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.

Equities Trading UP

Biodexa Pharmaceuticals Plc ( BDRX ) shares shot up 86% to $1.33 after the company entered an exclusive license agreement with Rapamycin Holdings for the rights to eRapa.

Shares of Focus Universal Inc ( FCUV ). got a boost, surging 69% to $0.4787 after the company announced board approval for the spin-off of Lusher.

Pineapple Energy Inc ( PEGY ). shares were also up, gaining 68% to $0.0871.

Equities Trading DOWN

iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited ( ICLK ) shares dropped 50% to $1.27 after the company announced the termination of its merger agreement.

Shares of Nuwellis, Inc. ( NUWE ) were down 43% to $0.1650 after the company reported pricing of $2.7 million public offering.

Nature Wood Group Limited ( NWGL ) was down, falling 39% to $10.31.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $84.12 while gold traded up 0.7% at $2,359.00.

Silver traded up 0.9% to $27.59 on Friday, while copper rose 1.2% to $4.5945.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.8%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.5% while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.4% The German DAX rose 0.8% French CAC 40 rose 0.4% while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 1%.

Bank lending to households in the Eurozone rose by 0.2% year-over-year to €6.875 trillion in March. Spain’s retail trade increased by 0.6% year-over-year in March versus a revised 1.8% gain in the earlier month, while unemployment rate increased to 12.29% in the first quarter.

The consumer confidence indicator in France declined to 90 in April versus a reading of 91 in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.81%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumping 2.12%, China's Shanghai Composite climbing 1.17% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.82%.

The Bank of Japan maintained its key short-term interest rate unchanged at its April meeting. Singapore’s manufacturing production declined 9.2% year-over-year in March versus a revised 4.4% increase in the prior month.

Economics

The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation – the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index – rose more than expected in March. The headline PCE price index rose from 2.5% in February 2024 to 2.7% year-on-year in March, beating forecasts of a 2.6% increase, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.

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