Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Cerner Rallies Major Contract While United Airlines Plummets

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.56 percent to 15,241.45 while the NASDAQ declined 0.27 percent to 3,777.13. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.52 percent to 1,689.49.

BlackBerry

reported a

loss. BlackBerry posted a quarterly loss of $965 million, or $1.84 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $229 million, or $0.44 per share. Its adjusted net loss from continuing operations came in at $0.47 per share. Its revenue dropped 45% to $1.6 billion from $2.9 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.49 per share on revenue of $1.61 billion.

RDA Microelectronics

shot up 12.38 percent to $15.60 after the company received a

proposal. Shares of Finish Line

got a boost, shooting up 8.04 percent to $24.19 after the company reported a

in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Cerner Corporation

was also on the rise, gaining 7.76 percent to $52.52 after news hit that the company won a landmark contract with Intermountain this afternoon.

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics

were down 20.36 percent to $11.03 after the company reported that the

of NKTR-181 missed primary efficacy endpoint. United Continental Holdings

was down as well, falling 8.90 percent to $31.04 following more fears of a government shutdown. J. C. Penney Company

was down, falling 14.25 percent to $8.94 after the company

public offering of 84.0 million shares of its common stock at $9.65 per share.

In commodity news,

to $102.80, while gold traded up 1.16 percent to $1,339.50. Silver traded up 0.30 percent Friday to $21.80, while copper rose 0.44 percent to $3.32.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.47 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 1.27 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.03 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.01 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.81 percent.

Consumer spending rose 0.3% in August, matching economists' expectations for a 0.3% rise. Personal income increased 0.4% last month, versus economists' estimates of a 0.4% rise. The Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to a final reading of 77.5 in September, from 82.1 in August. However, economists were estimating a final reading of 78.00. Data on farm prices for September will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.