Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.06 percent to 20,566.82 while the NASDAQ declined 0.11 percent to
5,910.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11 percent to 2,353.25.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Friday morning, the utilities sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from
Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ: MSEX) and NextEra
Energy Inc (NYSE: NEE).
In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 0.50 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included CARBO Ceramics
Inc. (NYSE: CRR), down 4 percent, and W&T Offshore,
Inc. (NYSE: WTI), down 3 percent.
Top Headline
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Friday.
GE posted adjusted earnings of $0.21 per share in the quarter on revenue of $27.7 billion; Analysts were expecting the company
to earn $0.17 per share on revenue of $26.4 billion.
Equities Trading UP
China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd.(ADR) (NYSE: STV)
shares shot up 34 percent to $1.71. China Digital TV declared a special cash dividend of US$1.50 per ordinary share.
Shares of Proofpoint Inc (NASDAQ: PFPT) got a
boost, shooting up 8 percent to $76.97 after the company reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter and raised its FY17
forecast.
Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN) shares
were also up, gaining 7 percent to $26.90 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Equities Trading DOWN
XBiotech Inc (NASDAQ: XBIT) shares dropped 40
percent to $10.13 after the company disclosed that the EMA rendered negative trend vote related to MAA for its candidate antibody
for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
Shares of Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ: ADMP) were down around 19 percent to $3.55. Adamis Pharmaceuticals priced its 4.28
million offering at $3.50 per share.
Clearwater Paper Corp (NYSE: CLW) was down, falling
around 11 percent to $50.55 after the company reported Q1 results. Clearwater Paper reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.64 per
share on revenue of $437.5 million.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.28 percent to $50.85 while gold traded up 0.04 percent to $1,284.30.
Silver traded down 0.65 percent Friday to $17.90, while copper fell 0.02 percent to $2.5565.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.20 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.32
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.17 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.47 percent, and the French CAC 40
slipped 0.18 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.10 percent.
Economics
The flash Markit PMI dropped to a reading of 52.8 in April, versus a prior reading of 53.3.
Existing home sales rose 4.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.71 million for March. Economists were expecting a 5.60 million
rate.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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