Dow Edges Higher; US Economy Adds 50,000 Jobs In December - Aclarion (NASDAQ:ACON), Rich Sparkle Holdings (NASDAQ:ANPA)

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 0.2% on Friday.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.15% to 49,342.43 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.29% to 23,547.90. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.29% to 6,941.76.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 2% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary stocks dipped by 0.6%.

Top Headline

The U.S. economy ended 2025 with a steadier labor market than many feared, easing concerns about mounting job losses that dominated late summer and the early weeks of the fourth quarter.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000 in December, mostly unchanged from November’s downwardly revised 56,000 gain and slightly below expectations for 60,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.

Equities Trading UP
           

Rich Sparkle Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: ANPA ) shares shot up 112% to $51.41. Rich Sparkle signed a $39 million offering of 3 million ordinary shares at $13 per share. Shares of Alpha Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: ATGL ) got a boost, surging 76% to $36.66. GreenPower Motor Company Inc (NASDAQ: GP ) shares were also up, gaining 61% to $1.32. GreenPower received $5 million LEDA award from State for New Mexico Facility plus $9.6 million jobs tax credits and incentive funds.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aquestive Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: AQST ) shares dropped 39% to $3.79 after the company received a FDA letter identifying deficiencies that preclude labeling discussions for anaphylm (dibutepinephrine) sublingual film. Shares of Aclarion Inc (NASDAQ: ACON ) were down 37% to $5.15. Beta Bionics Inc (NASDAQ: BBNX ) was down, falling 34% to $21.12 after the company reported preliminary fourth-quarter financial results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.3% to $59.11 while gold traded up 0.9% at $4,501.40.

Silver traded up 5.1% to $79.015 on Friday, while copper rose 1.7% to $5.893.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.9%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.2%. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.9%, Germany's DAX rose 0.4% and France's CAC 40 rose 1.3% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 1.61%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 0.32%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.92% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.72%.

Economics

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000 in December, mostly unchanged from November’s downwardly revised 56,000 gain and slightly below expectations for 60,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The unemployment rate slipped from a downwardly revised 4.5% in November to 4.4%, landing below expectations of 4.5%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% on the month, accelerating from November’s 0.2% increase and matching forecasts. Housing starts declined by 4.6% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 1.246 million units. Building permits fell by 0.2% to an annualized rate of 1.412 million in October. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 54.0 in January, recording its strongest reading since September 2025.

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ACON Aclarion Inc $5.10 -37.6% Overview ANPA Rich Sparkle Holdings Ltd $56.55 133.7% AQST Aquestive Therapeutics Inc $3.73 -39.9% ATGL Alpha Technology Group Ltd $25.14 50.3% BBNX Beta Bionics Inc $20.70 -35.3% GP GreenPower Motor Co Inc $1.37 66.7% Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

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