Crude Oil Gains 1%; US Industrial Output Rises In December

Market Overview - U.S. stocks showed mixed performance, with the Dow Jones index decreasing by 0.1% to 49,398.52, while the NASDAQ rose by 0.13% to 23,559.46 and the S&P 500 increased by 0.09% to 6,950.87 [1] - European shares declined, with the eurozone's STOXX 600 falling by 0.21%, Spain's IBEX 35 Index down by 0.14%, London's FTSE 100 slipping by 0.13%, Germany's DAX decreasing by 0.36%, and France's CAC 40 down by 0.91% [7] - Asian markets mostly closed lower, with Japan's Nikkei down by 0.32%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declining by 0.29%, China's Shanghai Composite falling by 0.26%, while India's BSE Sensex gained by 0.23% [8] Sector Performance - Information technology shares increased by 0.3% on Friday, while materials stocks dipped by 1% [2] Commodities - Oil prices rose by 1% to $59.78, while gold decreased by 0.2% to $4,613.60. Silver fell by 3.4% to $89.170, and copper dropped by 2.7% to $5.8310 [6] Company News - Venus Concept Inc (NASDAQ:VERO) shares surged by 376% to $6.80 following a report of Madryn Asset Management holding a 91% stake [10] - Jeffs Brands Ltd (NASDAQ:JFBR) shares increased by 196% to $1.65 after announcing a distribution agreement for its subsidiary [10] - Locafy Ltd (NASDAQ:LCFY) shares rose by 73% to $5.44 due to an expanded partnership announcement [10] - Sasol Ltd (NYSE:SSL) shares fell by 12% to $6.30 after a downgrade from JP Morgan [10] - Sigma Lithium Corp (NASDAQ:SGML) shares decreased by 10% to $12.87 amid reports of safety concerns leading to the shutdown of waste piles in Brazil [10] - Erayak Power Solution Group Inc (NASDAQ:RAYA) shares dropped by 24% to $3.00, reflecting overall market weakness in electrical equipment companies [10] Economic Indicators - U.S. industrial production increased by 0.4% month-over-month in December, matching the previous month's performance and exceeding market estimates of 0.1% [3][11] - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's general business activity index improved to -16.1 in January from -20.0 in the prior month [11]