Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.24 percent to 18,212.55 while the NASDAQ gained 0.04 percent to 5,217.80. The
S&P also rose, gaining 0.08 percent to 2,134.85.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Friday, industrials shares gained by 0.80 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Chicago Bridge & Iron
Company N.V. (NYSE: CBI), and Granite Construction
Inc. (NYSE: GVA).
In trading on Friday, healthcare shares fell by 1.49 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included McKesson
Corporation (NYSE: MCK), down 23 percent, and Novo
Nordisk A/S (ADR) (NYSE: NVO), down 15 percent.
Top Headline
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) delivered better than
expected earnings and revenue for the third quarter.
Mastercard reported quarterly EPS of $1.08, beating estimates by $0.10. Its revenue came in at $2.9 billion, topping
expectations by $0.15 billion.
Equities Trading UP
Gravity Co., LTD. (ADR) (NASDAQ: GRVY) shares shot
up 142 percent to $11.01 after the company reported Q3 results. GRAVITY reported Q3 earnings of $0.74 per share on sales of $13.143
million.
Shares of Virtus Investment Partners Inc (NASDAQ: VRTS) got a boost, shooting up 24 percent to $115.00 following Q3 results. Virtus
Investment posted Q3 earnings of $1.64 per share on revenue of $82.3 million.
Integer Holdings Corporation (NYSE: ITGR) shares
were also up, gaining 22 percent to $22.15 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Equities Trading DOWN
Opexa Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: OPXA) shares
dropped 70 percent to $1.05 after the company disclosed that its top-line results from Phase 2b Abili-T trial evaluating Tcelna did
not meet primary endpoint.
Shares of Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ: SNMX) were down 47
percent to $1.40. SENOMYX reported upbeat Q3 results, but issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.
StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE: STON) was down,
falling around 45 percent to $13.64 after the company reported a temporary reduction in its quarterly cash distribution and issued
a partnership update. Wunderlich downgraded StoneMor Partners from Buy to Hold.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.42 percent to $49.51 while gold traded down 0.08 percent to $1,268.50.
Silver traded up 0.09 percent Friday to $17.66, while copper rose 1.29 percent to $2.19.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.30 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.01
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.71 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.22 percent, and the French CAC 40
gained 0.27 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.15 percent.
Economics
The U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.9 percent in the third quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 2.5
percent growth.
The employment cost index increased 0.6 percent for the third quarter.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index slipped to 87.20 in October, versus a prior reading of 87.90. Economists
expected a reading of 88.10.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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