Benzinga | Oct 8, 2021 10:11AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; US Economy Adds 194,000 Jobs In September

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.12% to 34,796.95 while the NASDAQ rose 0.09% to 14,667.44. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16% to 4,406.93.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 44,160,450 cases with around 710,180 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 33,915,560 cases and 450,120 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,532,550 COVID-19 cases with 599,810 deaths. In total, there were at least 236,882,420 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,836,830 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares gained by 2.1% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Camber Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CEI), up 27% and PEDEVCO Corp. (NYSE:PED) up 13%.

In trading on Friday, real estate shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

The US economy added 194,000 jobs in September, the lowest so far this year. Analysts, meanwhile, were expecting for a 500,000 gain. The US unemployment rate, however, declined to 4.8% in September from 5.2%.



Equities Trading UP

ChemoCentryx, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCXI) shares shot up 67% to $32.68. The FDA approved ChemoCentryx's Tavneos (avacopan) as an adjunctive treatment for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis (ANCA-associated vasculitis or ANCA vasculitis).

Shares of Renren Inc. (NYSE:RENN) got a boost, shooting 39% to $22.99. Renren, last month, named Chris Palmer as its Chief Financial Officer.

ReShape Lifesciences Inc. (NASDAQ:RSLS) shares were also up, gaining 19% to $2.95. Maxim Group initiated coverage on Reshape Lifesciences with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $8.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALLO) shares tumbled 42% to $14.09 after the company reported the FDA placed a hold on the company's AlloCAR T clinical trials.

Shares of Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS) were down 20% to $9.59. Baird downgraded Cellectis from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $39 to $10.

Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:APRN) was down, falling 12% to $6.93.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $79.18, while gold traded up 1% to $1,776.30.

Silver traded up 1.8% Friday to $23.070 while copper rose 0.5% to $4.2640.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.03%, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.01% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. Meanwhile, the London's FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, French CAC 40 fell 0.2% and Italy's FTSE MIB gained 0.3%.

German current account surplus shrank to EUR 11.8 billion in August from EUR 16.7 billion in the year-ago month, while trade surplus narrowed to (euro)10.7 billion from (euro)11.9 billion.

Economics

The US economy added 194,000 jobs in September, the lowest so far this year. Analysts, meanwhile, were expecting for a 500,000 gain. The US unemployment rate, however, declined to 4.8% in September from 5.2%.

US wholesale inventories increased 1.2% to $731.1 billion in August.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here