Mid-Day Market Update: JC Penney Drops Following Weak Guidance; FARO Technologies Shares Surge

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 23,399.43 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.47 percent to 6,653.39. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.47 percent to 2,572.40.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the technology shares climbed by 2.73 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, up 11 percent, and Power Integrations Inc POWI, up 11 percent.

In trading on Friday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.78 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Expedia Inc EXPE, down 18 percent, and J C Penney Company Inc JCP down 17 percent.

Top Headline

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter on Thursday.

Amazon’s turned in earnings of 52 cents per share, the same EPS as last year's third quarter. Sales came in at $43.7 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $0.03 per share on revenue of $42.14 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Shineco Inc TYHT shares shot up 23 percent to $3.42 after the company reported a deal to market authorized products of Daiso to distribute on JD.com.

Shares of First Solar, Inc. FSLR got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $57.75 after a big earnings beat in the third quarter. The company also raised FY 2017 guidance. Needham upgraded First Solar from Hold to Buy.

FARO Technologies, Inc. FARO shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $46.15 as the company posted strong Q3 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

PhaseRx Inc PZRX shares dropped 40 percent to $0.578 as the company disclosed that it has received delisting notice from the NASDAQ.

Shares of Electronics For Imaging, Inc. EFII were down 31 percent to $29.17 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results. William Blair downgraded Electronics for Imaging from Outperform to Market Perform.

J C Penney Company Inc JCP was down, falling around 17 percent to $3.05 after the company issued a weak earnings forecast for the third quarter and full year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.52 percent to $53.44 while gold traded up 0.13 percent to $1,271.20.

Silver traded down 0.48 percent Friday to $16.73, while copper fell 2.71 percent to $3.0915.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.33 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.63 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.62 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.77 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.26 percent.

Economics

The U.S economy expanded at an annual rate of 3 percent in the third quarter, beating economists’ expectations for a 2.5 percent growth.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index slipped to 100.70 for October, versus prior reading of 101.10. Economists were projecting a reading of 100.90.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.