Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.05 percent to 22,038.02 while the NASDAQ declined 0.09 percent to
6,334.53. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.05 percent to 2,473.31.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Friday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the
sector was strength from Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE: WTW) and Craft Brew Alliance Inc (NASDAQ: BREW).
In trading on Friday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.35 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in
the sector included Genie Energy Ltd (NYSE: GNE), down 3
percent, and SCANA Corporation (NYSE: SCG), down 2
percent.
Top Headline
CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) reported
stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.
CIGNA reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $2.91 per share, on sales of $10.3 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of
$2.48 on revenue of $10.27 billion.
Cigna raised its FY17 adjusted earnings outlook to $9.75 to $10.05 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Yelp Inc (NYSE: YELP) shares shot up 27 percent to
$39.88 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results and disclosed a partnership with GrubHub Inc (NYSE: GRUB). Yelp announced plans to sell its Eat24 business.
Shares of Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE: WTW) got a boost, shooting up 26 percent to $41.52 after the company posted
stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.
Arista Networks Inc (NYSE: ANET) shares were also
up, gaining 20 percent to $173.25 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued a
strong sales forecast for the third quarter.
Equities Trading DOWN
Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (NASDAQ: EFII)
shares dropped 42 percent to $27.43. Electronics For Imaging disclosed that it has postponed Q2 release due to accounting issues
related to revenue recognition. Morgan Stanley downgraded Electronics for Imaging from Equal-Weight to Underweight.
Shares of Autobytel Inc. (NASDAQ: ABTL) were down
23 percent to $8.36 as the company posted downbeat Q2 results and lowered its FY17 outlook. Barrington Research downgraded
Autobytel from Outperform to Market Perform.
Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ: AAOI) was
down, falling around 27 percent to $71.45. Applied Optoelectronics posted upbeat results for its second quarter, but issued a weak
forecast for the current quarter.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.08 percent to $49.07 while gold traded down 0.47 percent to $1,268.40.
Silver traded down 0.99 percent Friday to $16.465, while copper fell 0.07 percent to $2.875.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.90 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.38 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.73 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.98
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.34 percent.
Economics
The U.S. economy added 209,000 new jobs in July, while unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent. Economists projected a gain of
183,000 jobs for July.
U.S. trade deficit declined 5.9 percent to $43.6 billion in June, compared to $46.4 billion in May. However, economists were
expecting a $44 billion deficit. Exports increased 1.2 percent to $194.4 billion, while imports declined 0.2 percent to $238
billion.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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