US Composite PMI Rises To 56 In August, Strongest Since April 2022

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 400 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.76% to 53,162.51 while the NASDAQ rose 0.01% to 26,070.83.

The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.32% to 7,665.35.

Leading and Lagging Sectors Materials shares jumped by 2.3% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, information technology stocks fell by 0.5%.

Top Headline The US S&P Global composite PMI climbed to 56 in August from 54.5 in the previous month, recording the strongest growth since April 2022.

Equities Trading UP RF Acquisition Corp II ( NASDAQ: RFAI ) shares shot up 256% to $45.32 following Thursday SEC filings detailing the results of an extraordinary general meeting.

At the August 19 meeting, shareholders overwhelmingly approved the proposed business combination with Singapore-based, AI-driven drug discovery firm Nanyang Biologics Pte.

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Shares of Werewolf Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: HOWL ) got a boost, surging 113% to $0.92 after the company announced a merger with Ambros Therapeutics.

The companies secured commitments for an oversubscribed concurrent private placement of $150 million from a syndicate of leading healthcare-dedicated investor.

Evolution Metals & Technologies Corp ( NASDAQ: EMAT ) shares were also up, gaining 30% to $4.34.

Evolution Metals & Technologies recently reported second-quarter losses of 2 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of losses of 3 cents per share.

Equities Trading DOWN Ubiquiti Inc ( NYSE: UI ) shares dropped 10% to $519.00 after reporting fourth-quarter results.

Shares of OSI Systems Inc ( NASDAQ: OSIS ) were down 7% to $201.75 after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results and issued weak FY27 sales guidance.

The company's board approved an additional authorization to repurchase 1 million shares.

Flux Power Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: FLUX ) was down, falling 23% to $0.63 after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results.

Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $86.46 while gold traded up 1.6% at $4,645.10.

Silver traded up 2.2% to $69.610 on Friday, while copper rose 1.8% to $6.5845.

Euro zone European shares were higher today.

The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.6%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.9%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%, Germany's DAX gained 0.6%, while France's CAC 40 climbed 0.4%.

Asia Pacific Markets Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.30%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gaining 1.21%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.04% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 0.004%.

Economics The S&P Global US manufacturing PMI fell to 53.2 in August from the previous reading of 53.9, versus market estimates of 53.9.

The S&P Global services PMI climbed to 56.8 in August from 54.6 in the prior month, versus market estimates of 54.

The US S&P Global composite PMI climbed to 56 in August from 54.5 in the previous month, recording the strongest growth since April 2022.

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