Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Up Over 1%; Workiva Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.76 percent to 25,151.18 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.95 percent to 7,278.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.95 percent to 2,729.57.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the utilities shares climbed 1.74 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included OGE Energy Corp. OGE, up 5 percent, and NRG Energy Inc NRG, up 4 percent.

In trading on Friday, industrial shares rose by just 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included KBR, Inc. KBR, down 12 percent, and First Solar, Inc. FSLR down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Huntsman Corporation HUN reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.125 to $0.1625 per share. The company’s board also approved a $450 million buyback plan.

The company said it earned $0.76 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $2.2 billion versus expectations of $0.66 per share on revenue of $2.1 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Vicor Corp VICR shares shot up 41 percent to $26.45. Vicor reported Q4 earnings of $0.04 per share on revenue of $58.771 million.

Shares of Financial Engines Inc FNGN got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $37.45 as the company posted upbeat Q4 earnings.

Trade Desk Inc TTD shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $58.77 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. The company issued first quarter and FY18 sales guidance ahead of consensus.

Equities Trading DOWN

Marin Software Inc MRIN shares dropped 18 percent to $7.57. Marin Software reported Q4 adjusted loss of $0.92 per share on sales of $17.7 million. Marin Software expects Q1 adjusted loss of $1.36 to $1.28 per share, on sales of $14.3 million to $14.8 million.

Shares of Workiva Inc WK were down 19 percent to $21.05. Workiva posted a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss, but issued weak forecast for the current quarter.
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Seven Stars Cloud Group Inc SSC was down, falling around 29 percent to $1.99. Seven Stars expects FY17 sales of $125 million to $144 million and FY18 sales of $280 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.34 percent to $63.61 while gold traded down 0.13 percent to $1,331.00.

Silver traded down 0.35 percent Friday to $16.58, while copper fell 1.13 percent to $3.2245.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.22 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.55 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.93 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.18 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.15 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.11 percent.

Economics

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

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in New York at 1:30 p.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in Los Angeles at 3:40 p.m. ET.