Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.46 percent to 25,497.25 while the NASDAQ declined 0.45 percent to
7,400.47. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.21 percent to 2,745.98.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Friday morning, the consumer discretionary shares rose 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Newell
Brands Inc (NYSE: NWL) up 15 percent, and El
Pollo LoCo Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: LOCO) up 18
percent.
In trading on Friday, information technology shares fell 1.1 percent.
Top Headline
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported
stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued disappointing sales guidance for the holiday period.
Apple reported earnings of $2.91 per share, beating estimates of $2.78. Sales totaled $62.9 billion, which beat estimates of
$61.48 billion by 2.31 percent. This represented an increase of 21.1 percent from Q4 2017. iPhone unit sales totaled 46.9 million,
which increased 29 percent year-over-yea but slightly missed analysts expectations of 47.5 million.
Apple sees Q1 sales in a range of $89-$93 billion against a $92.91 billion estimate. The company sees Q1 gross margin 38-38.5
percent.
Equities Trading UP
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ: PACB) shares shot up 66 percent to $7.47 after Illumina, Inc.
(NASDAQ: ILMN) announced it would acquire the company for
$8 per share in cash.
Shares of Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT) got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $42.73 following upbeat Q3
results.
Cardtronics plc (NASDAQ: CATM) shares
were also up, gaining 16 percent to $32.07 after reporting upbeat third-quarter earnings.
Equities Trading DOWN
Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI)
shares dropped 53 percent to $18.19 after the company's Nerlynx sales were lower than expected.
Shares of Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADVM) were down 37 percent to $2.85 after the company's A1AT measurements 'did not
reach clinically meaningful levels of expression.'
Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: OLED) was down, falling around 26 percent to $96.60 after the company reported Q3
results and issued weak 2018 sales guidance.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.91 percent to $63.11 while gold traded down 0.42 percent to $1,233.40.
Silver traded down 0.05 percent Friday to $14.77, while copper rose 2.24 to $ 2.7825.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.91 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.96 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.6 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.4 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.25
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.57 percent.
Economics
The U.S. economy added 250,000 new jobs in October, while the unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent. Economists expected an
increase of 193,000 nonfarm jobs.
U.S. trade deficit increased 1.3 percent in September to $54 billion, versus a revised $53.3 billion in August. However,
economists were projecting a $53.6 billion deficit. Imports gained 1.5 percent to $266.6 billion, while exports rose 1.5 percent to
$212.6 billion for September.
U.S. factory orders rose 0.7 percent for September, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.5 percent gain.
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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