U.S. stocks faced a downward spiral nearing the end of the trading session, with the Dow Jones index plunging by over 200 points on Friday.
The Dow showed a decline of 0.55% to 38,692.43, while the NASDAQ slumped by 0.90% to 15,982.65. The S&P 500 also experienced a drop, falling by 0.64% to 5,117.35.
Sector Performance
Materials shares managed to eke out a gain of 0.2% on Friday.
Conversely, information technology shares took a hit, declining by 1.4%.
Adobe Inc.’s Struggle
Adobe Inc. (ADBE) witnessed a drastic fall of approximately 14% on Friday following a weak forecast projection by the company.
Despite reporting better-than-expected results for its first quarter, Adobe issued a pessimistic revenue guidance for the current quarter. The company anticipates revenue in the range of $5.25 billion to $5.30 billion, falling short of estimates of $5.31 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Market Winners and Losers
Verb Technology Company, Inc. saw its shares soar by 219% to $0.4461. VERB’s MARKET.live platform launched Facebook and Instagram social shopping technology integration.
Shares of Cardlytics, Inc. surged by 64% to $13.45 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.
American Vanguard Corporation also witnessed an uptick, with its shares gaining 22% to $12.91 following a positive showing in the fourth-quarter financial results.
On the Decline
C3is Inc. experienced a sharp decline of 62% to $0.0297 after announcing the pricing of a $6 million underwritten public offering.
Shares of SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. were down 29% to $1.1050. The company declared a $20 million registered direct offering and private placement, impacting the stock negatively.
Immuneering Corporation witnessed a fall of 29% to $2.0450 following downgrades by multiple analysts post the release of data from the company’s Phase 1 clinical trial.
Global Market Insights
European markets closed with mixed results, showing fluctuations in various indices. The Asian markets also ended mostly lower on Friday.
In the Eurozone, Italy’s annual inflation rate held steady at 0.8% in February, while France reported a slight dip in its inflation rate from the previous month.
Economic Indicators
The U.S. saw a rise of 0.8% in manufacturing production and a 0.1% increase in industrial production in February. However, the NY Empire State Manufacturing Index dropped significantly in March.
Export prices in the U.S. climbed by 0.8% month-over-month, while import prices also rose by 0.3%. Consumer sentiment saw a slight decline in March, marking the lowest reading in three months. Furthermore, the active U.S. oil rigs increased by 6 this week.