Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.07 percent to 20,950.20 while the NASDAQ gained 0.01 percent to
5,901.52. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04 percent to 2,382.30.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Basic materials shares climbed 0.56 percent in trading on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Dominion
Diamond Corp (NYSE: DDC), and Steel Dynamics, Inc.
(NASDAQ: STLD).
In trading on Friday, healthcare shares fell 0.32 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included The Medicines
Company (NASDAQ: MDCO), down 21 percent, and
ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN), down 7 percent.
Top Headline
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported upbeat earnings
for its fourth quarter.
Tiffany reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share on revenue of $1.23 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings
of $1.38 per share on revenue of $1.22 billion.
For fiscal 2017, Tiffany expects sales to increase in low-single digits and by a mid-single-digit percentage on a
constant-exchange-rate basis. The company projects FY2017 EPS to rise by a high-single-digit percentage over 2016 EPS of $3.55 and
by a mid-single-digit-percentage over 2016's adjusted EPS of $3.75.
Equities Trading UP
Caladrius Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: CLBS) shares
shot up 26 percent to $6.41 after the company posted upbeat Q4 results.
Shares of Norsat International Inc (USA) (NYSE: NSAT) got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $9.85 after the company reported the
receipt of new indication of interest by Privet Fund Management LLP at $10.25 per share.
Arbutus Biopharma Corp (NASDAQ: ABUS) shares were
also up, gaining 13 percent to $3.21 after the company disclosed that it has licensed LNP delivery technology to Alexion
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) for use in single
messenger RNA product candidate.
Equities Trading DOWN
Bioamber Inc (NYSE: BIOA) shares dropped 21 percent
to $2.47. BioAmber reported FY16 adjusted loss of $1.07 per share on revenue of $8.3 million.
Shares of Innocoll Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: INNL)
were down around 19 percent to $1.52. Innocoll posted a narrower-than-expected quarter loss, but revenue missed estimates. Stifel
Nicolaus downgraded Innocoll from Buy to Hold.
Caleres Inc (NYSE: CAL) was down, falling around 13
percent to $ES27.63 after the company posted weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.57 percent to $49.52 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,229.90.
Silver traded up 0.06 percent Friday to $17.34, while copper rose 0.13 percent to $2.681.
Eurozone
European shares were mostlyt higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.20 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.08 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.13 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.38
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.34 percent.
Economics
U.S. industrial production came in flat for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent gain.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 97.60 in March, versus a prior reading of 95.70. Economists were
expecting a reading of 97.00.
The index of leading economic indicators rose 0.6 percent for February.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
© 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.