U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 300 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.78% to 39,903.35 while the NASDAQ gained 1.14% to 16,573.81. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.92% to 5,316.66.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares surged by 1.2% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 1%.

Top Headline

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment dipped to 50.8 in April, recording the weakest level since June, compared to 57 in March.

Equities Trading UP
                   

• Mixed Martial Arts Group Limited (NYSE:MMA) shares shot up 77% to $1.4101 after the company secured $2 million non-dilutive financing.
• Shares of MSP Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:MSPR)got a boost, surging 89% to $2.4099. On Thursday, the company entered into a strategic term sheet with Hazel Partners, Virage Capital and affiliates to execute a series of restructuring initiatives.
• Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLP) shares were also up, gaining 21% to $31.18. The stock may be moving up after the FDA stated plans to phase out animal testing requirements for monoclonal antibodies and other drugs.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Innovative Eyewear, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUCY) shares dropped 52% to $2.39 after the company announced exercise of warrants for $1.8 million gross proceeds.
• Shares of Steel Partners Holdings L.P. (NYSE:SPLP) were down 15% to $31.15 as the company reported voluntary NYSE delisting and SEC deregistration.
• Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULCC) was down, falling 13% to $3.1050. Evercore ISI Group analyst Duane Pfennigwerth maintained Frontier Group with an In-Line rating and lowered the price target from $7 to $5.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $60.50 while gold traded up 2.5% at $3,257.80.

Silver traded up 4.3% to $32.08 on Friday, while copper rose 4.8% to $4.5460.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.10%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 0.92% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.30%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.18%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.64%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dipping 2.96%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.45%, Hong Kong's Gang Seng index rising 1.13% and India's BSE Sensex jumping 1.77%.

Economics

• U.S. producer prices fell 0.4% month-over-month in March compared to a 0.1% gain in the previous month.
• The University of Michigan consumer sentiment dipped to 50.8 in April, recording the weakest level since June, compared to 57 in March.

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