U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 50 points on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.14% to 39,121.86 while the NASDAQ rose 0.39% to 16,801.18. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.35% to 5,286.08.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communication services shares jumped by 0.7% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, health care shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

U.S. durable goods orders increased by 0.7% month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.8% gain in March. However, markets were expecting for a 0.8% decrease.

Equities Trading UP

• Akanda Corp. (NASDAQ:AKAN) shares shot up 103% to $4.8598. The international medical cannabis company implemented a 1-for-40 reverse stock split on its ordinary shares effective May 23, 2024, according to a recent exchange filing.
• Shares of Netcapital Inc. (NASDAQ:NCPL) got a boost, surging 63% to $0.2836 after jumping 15% on Thursday.
• Better Choice Company Inc. (NYSE:BTTR) shares were also up, gaining 64% to $6.71.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) shares dropped 59% to $5.05. The company announced that it initiated the rolling submission of a NDA to the FDA for accelerated approval of the combination of avutometinib and defactinib for adult patients with recurrent KRAS mutant low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
• Shares of Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSE) were down 47% to $0.78. Sensei Biotherapeutics presented clinical data from Phase 1 dose escalation study of SNS-101.
• Genelux Corporation (NASDAQ:GNLX) was down, falling 39% to $2.79 after the company reported pricing of approximately $27.5 million underwritten offering of common stock and accompanying warrants.

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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $76.88 while gold traded up 0.2% at $2,340.80.

Silver traded up 0.7% to $30.68 on Friday, while copper fell 0.4% to $4.7750.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.6%, Germany's DAX declined 0.4% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.9%, while London's FTSE 100 declined 0.4%.

Producer prices in Spain declined by 6.6% year-over-year in April compared to an 8.2% fall in March. The manufacturing climate indicator in France declined to a reading of 99 in May. German economy grew by 0.2% quarter-over-quarter in the three months to March versus a 0.5% contraction in the prior period. Retail sales in the UK fell 2.3% month-over-month for April versus a revised 0.2% decline a month ago.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 1.17%, China's Composite Index declining 0.88%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.38% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.1%.

The annual inflation rate in Japan eased to 2.5% in April versus 2.7%, while core consumer price index in Japan increased 2.2% year-over-year in April versus a 2.6% rise in the prior month.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders increased by 0.7% month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.8% gain in March. However, markets were expecting for a 0.8% decrease.

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