Gold, Biopharma Firms Dominate Friday’s 10 Top Performing Stocks

The stock market finished the trading week on a positive note, wiping out earlier losses on Friday, as investors weighed the escalating trade tensions between the US and China.

Having been battered this week, Wall Street’s major indices all finished in the green, led by the Nasdaq, up 2.06 percent, followed by the S&P 500 with 1.81 percent, and the Dow Jones with 1.56 percent.

Ten companies, predominantly under the mining and biopharmaceutical sectors, mimicked gains on the back of fresh industry catalysts that boosted buying appetite. In this article, let us explore Friday’s top performers and the reasons behind their gains.

To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with a $2 billion market capitalization and $5 million trading volume.

Stock market data on a laptop screen. Photo by Alesia Kozik on Pexels

10. Newmont Corp. (NYSE:NEM)

Shares in Newmont Corp. grew 7.91 percent on Friday to close at $54.97 apiece as investors hunted for bargains in gold mining stocks amid higher spot prices.

As of 4:22 PM EDT on Friday, spot prices of gold were at a new all-time high of $3,233.96 per ounce, representing a 1.82-percent increase from the previous day.

Friday also marked NEM’s fifth consecutive day of rally as investors took shelter from gold assets amid the heightening trade tensions between the United States and China.

In separate news, investment bank UBS gave NEM a rating upgrade to Buy from Neutral and a higher price target of $60 versus $50 previously. The new price represented a 9-percent upside from NEM’s closing price on Friday.

NEM is a US-based gold miner that owns various mining sites across the US, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Australia, Ghana, Argentina, Peru, and Suriname.

9. STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE:STM)

STMicroelectronics grew its share prices by 8.03 percent on Friday to finish at $20.45 apiece as investors cheered news that French Industry Minister Marc Ferracci backed the company’s chief executive officer amid allegations of insider trading.

In a post on social media platform X, Ferracci offered his full support to STM CEO Jean-Marc Chery after accusations made by Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti that Chery sold shares in STM a day before reporting the company’s negative results, adding that the CEO does not have the support of the Italian government.

In a statement on Thursday, STM clarified that Chery’s sales during the company’s blackout period prior to the results were made by its stock plan administrator through an automatic procedure.

Despite the claims, STM confirmed earlier this week that its planned investments at new facilities in Agrate and Catania were on track. The Agrate site is expected to double its production capacity by 2027.