Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.22 percent to 21,891.66 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.47 percent to 6,245.83.
The S&P also rose, gaining 0.30 percent to 2,445.46.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Friday, the healthcare shares rose by 0.66 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Community Health
Systems (NYSE: CYH), up 13 percent, and Sangamo
Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SGMO), up 8 percent.
In trading on Friday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.55 percent. Meanwhile, top
losers in the sector included Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (ADR) (NYSE: ACH), down 6 percent, and Endeavour Silver Corp (NYSE: EXK), down 4 percent.
Top Headline
J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE: JCP) posted a
wider-than-expected Q2 loss.
J C Penney posted adjusted loss of $0.09 per share on revenue of $2.96 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.05
per share on revenue of $2.84 billion.
Sales at stores open more than 12 months dropped 1.3 percent during the quarter.
Equities Trading UP
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) shares shot up 70
percent to $3.48. DryShips reported that it will conduct a $100 million private placement and announced termination of stock
purchase deal with Kalani.
Shares of Apollo Endosurgery Inc (NASDAQ: APEN)
got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $5.08 as the company issued an update and clarity to the FDA letter to Health Care Providers
related to potential risks of intragastric balloons. The company disclosed that ORBERA is approved by the FDA as safe and
effective.
Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE: ANW)
shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $4.97 as the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Clarksons Platou
upgraded Aegean Marine Petroleum from Neutral to Buy.
Equities Trading DOWN
EnteroMedics Inc (NASDAQ: ETRM) shares dropped 39
percent to $2.02. EnteroMedics reported commencement of Series B convertible preferred stock and warrant offering.
Shares of Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ: BBOX)
were down 42 percent to $4.30. Black Box reported Q1 operating loss of $0.33 per share on sales of $191.6 million.
Luxoft Holding Inc (NYSE: LXFT) was down, falling
around 28 percent to $43.75 after the company posted weaker-than-expected Q1 results. Wedbush downgraded Luxoft from Outperform to
Neutral.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.56 percent to $48.32 while gold traded up 0.14 percent to $1,291.90.
Silver traded down 0.18 percent Friday to $17.035, while copper rose 0.33 percent to $2.9125.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.87 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.39 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.21 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.14 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.90
percent while U.K. shares fell 1 percent.
Economics
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent for July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent growth
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.