Mid-Day Market Update: US Stocks Edge Higher; Pandora Shares Drop On Weak Outlook

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.07 percent to 14,973.65 while the NASDAQ surged 0.32 percent to 3,650.17. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16 percent to 1,659.57. Top Headline
Foot Locker FL reported a 12% rise in its fiscal second-quarter profit. Foot Locker's quarterly profit surged to $66 million, or $0.44 per share, from $59 million, or $0.39 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, its earnings climbed to $0.46 per share from $0.38 per share. Its total sales gained 6.4% to $1.45 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.47 per share on sales of $1.45 billion. Equities Trading UP
Renren RENN shot up 4.41 percent to $3.55 after Baidu announced its plans to buy 59% interest in Renren's Nuomi for $160 million in cash. Jefferies upgraded the stock from Underperform to Hold Shares of Microsoft MSFT got a boost, shooting up 5.87 percent to $34.29 after the company reported that its CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within the next 12 months. Expedia EXPE was also up, gaining 5.56 percent to $49.05 on Travelocity marketing deal. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Aeropostale ARO were down 20.41 percent to $8.74 after the company posted a loss in the second quarter and issued a weak view for the third quarter. Analysts at Bank of America downgraded the stock from Buy to Underperform. Pandora Media P shares tumbled 12.23 percent to $19.06 after the company reported issued downbeat earnings forecast for the third quarter. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold. Hibbett Sports HIBB was down, falling 10.23 percent to $52.49 after the company cut its earnings forecast for the year. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.75 percent to $106.87, while gold traded up 1.85 percent to $1,396.20. Silver traded up 3.14 percent Friday to $23.81, while copper rose 0.84 percent to $3.36. Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.66 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.19%. Meanwhile, the German DAX jumped 0.23 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.25 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.70 percent. Economics
Sales of new homes declined 13.4% to an annual rate of 394,000 in July.