Benzinga Mid-Afternoon Market Update

Towards the end of trading Friday, the Dow was up about 0.09 percent, or roughly 12.45 points. The NASDAQ rose about 0.22 percent, or 7.08 points, while the S&P traded up 0.13 percent, rallying 1.93 points.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MACK) got a boost Friday with share prices rising 10.33 percent, trading around $10.36.

Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HALO) was also on the rise, rocketing up 24.96 percent to $8.01 following positive news on its Cinryze drug.

Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) also got a boost, after it took a hit yesterday following its presentation to analysts. Shares traded up 3.81 percent around $24.95.

Shares of Rock-Tenn (NYSE: RKT) rose 2.32 percent in early trading to $68.93.

VIVUS (NASDAQ: VVUS) fell 12.61 percent to $20.73 Friday after announcing it does not believe its Qsiva marketing will be approved.

Cooper Tire & Rubber (NYSE: CTB) slowed its decline late Friday, dropping 9.03 percent to $20.00 following a KeyBanc Capital Markets downgrade to a Hold rating.

Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) dropped 4.64 percent to $40.08 after Wells Fargo downgraded them from Outperform to Market Perform.

In tech news, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) released its iPhone 5 in stores today. Mid way through the day Friday, shares of Apple traded up 0.82 percent around $702.16.

Friday was light on economic news as there were no economic releases of note.

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