Nasdaq Gains 100 Points; US Economy Adds Fewer Jobs Than Projected

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. (NASDAQ:WHLR) shares shot up 37% to $1.4395.
• Shares of SUNation Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNE)got a boost, surging 148% to $0.4401. SUNation Energy named James Brennan to fill the role of CFO, effective immediately, in addition to his role serving as COO.
• Bit Origin Ltd (NASDAQ:BTOG) shares were also up, gaining 64% to $0.4587.

Equities Trading DOWN

• AGM Group Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AGMH) shares dropped 24% to $0.1639. AGM Group Holdings recently completed a $5.4 million public offering to expand bitcoin mining operations.
• Shares of Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACXP) were down 24% to $0.4933 after the company announced a $1.1 million registered direct offering.
• Abits Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ABTS) was down, falling 19% to $0.2555. Abits Group 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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