Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Athlon Energy Posts Successful IPO in Mixed Markets

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 15,626.24 while the NASDAQ gained 0.23 percent to 3,684.51. The S&P traded flat to 1,706.20.

Top Headline

Yesterday, LinkedIn LNKD reported upbeat second-quarter earnings. LinkedIn's quarterly earnings surged to $3.7 million, or $0.03 per share, from $2.8 million, or $0.03 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.38 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.31 per share. Its revenue rose 59% to $364 million from $228 million. LinkedIn expected Q3 revenue of $367 million to $373 million, versus estimates of $383 million.

Equities Trading UP

LinkedIn LNKD shot up 10.81 percent to $236.83 after the company reported upbeat Q2 earnings. Shares of Viacom VIAB got a boost, shooting up 6.58 percent to $79.23 after the company reported a 20% rise in its fiscal third-quarter net income. Athlon Energy ATHL was also up, gaining 34.62 percent to $26.91 after the company posted a highly successful IPO.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of MRC Global MRC were down 10.18 percent to $24.39 after the company reported downbeat Q2 revenue and issued weak FY13 forecast. Alpha Natural Resources ANR shares tumbled 8.92 percent to $4.95 after the company reported a wider Q2 adjusted loss. ValueClick VCLK was down, falling 15.45 percent to $21.22 after the company reported a 41% fall in its Q2 profit and issued downbeat Q3 outlook.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.14 percent to $106.66, while gold traded down 0.21 percent to $1,308.00. Silver traded up 1.05 percent Friday to $19.83, while copper was flat at $3.17.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.40 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index declined 0.24 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.05 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.07 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.51 percent.

Economics

The US economy added 162,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate dropped to 7.4% in the month. However, economists were expecting a rise of 185,000 jobs and jobless rate of 7.5% in July. US consumer spending increased 0.5% in June, versus economists' expectations for a 0.5% rise. However, personal income climbed 0.3%, missing estimates of a 0.4% rise. US factory orders increased 1.5% to an annual rate of $496.7 billion in June, versus economists' expectations for a 2.3% growth rate.