Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.18 percent to 19,925.76 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.53 percent to 5,576.83.
The S&P also rose, gaining 0.30 percent to 2,277.28.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Financial shares gained around 0.74 percent in trading on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included LNB Bancorp
Inc (NASDAQ: LNBB), and Greenhill & Co., Inc.
(NYSE: GHL).
In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell by 0.19 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Cia Energetica de
Minas Gerais CEMIG-ADR (NYSE: CIG), down 3 percent, and
Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ADR) (NYSE: ELP), down
3 percent.
Top Headline
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday.
JPMorgan said it earned $1.71 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $23.4 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting
the company to earn $1.44 per share on revenue of $24.0 billion.
Equities Trading UP
Naked Brand Group Inc (NASDAQ: NAKD) shares shot
up 218 percent to $3.31 after the company announced plans to to merge with Bendon Limited.
Shares of Sanchez Energy Corp (NYSE: SN) got a boost,
shooting up 24 percent to $10.76. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) announced the sale of Eagleford Shale assets to Sanchez Energy and Blackstone
Energy Partners for $2.3 billion.
Telenav Inc (NASDAQ: TNAV) shares were also up,
gaining 21 percent to $8.50 after the company reported the settlement of patent lawsuit. The company projects Q2 revenue of $51
million to $52 million and loss of $0.30 per share to $0.28 per share.
Equities Trading DOWN
Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: URRE) shares
dropped 29 percent to $2.23 after the company reported the pricing of $9.7 million public offering.
Shares of Skyline Medical Inc (NASDAQ: SKLN) were
down around 17 percent to $2.33. Skyline Medical priced its stock and warrant offering for gross proceeds of $3.9 million.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) was down, falling around 8
percent to $22.68. GameStop slashed its comparable sales guidance for the fourth quarter and full year after it reported
“disappointing” holiday sales on industry weakness, pricing pressure and lower store traffic.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.28 percent to $53.69 while gold traded down 0.87 percent to $1,189.40.
Silver traded down 0.95 percent Friday to $16.67, while copper fell 0.24 percent to $2.67.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.83 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.16 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.02 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.91 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.15 percent
while U.K. shares rose 0.56 percent.
Economics
The producer price index increased 0.3 percent in December, matching economists’ expecttaions for a 0.3 percent growth.
U.S. retail sales rose 0.6 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent growth
U.S. business inventories rose 0.70 percent for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.50 percent growth.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index slipped to 98.10 in January, versus a prior reading of 98.20. Economists
were expecting a reading of 98.10.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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