Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; McDonald's October Comparable-Restaurant Sales Rise 0.5% - Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO)

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.17 percent to 15,620.17 while the NASDAQ surged 0.74 percent to 3,885.83. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.31 percent to 1,752.60.

Top Headline
McDonald's MCD reported downbeat comparable-restaurant sales for October.

McDonald's global same-restaurant sales increased 0.5 percent in October. However, analysts were expecting a 0.6 percent growth. Analysts at RBC Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a Sector Perform rating.

Equities Trading UP
Santarus SNTS shot up 37.47 percent to $31.92 after Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP announced its plans to buy Santarus for around $2.12 billion. Santarus and Pharming also announced new data from open-label repeat treatment study with RUCONEST.

Shares of Universal Display

OLED

got a boost, shooting up 15.78 percent to $33.75 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and issued a strong FY13 revenue forecast.

Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP was also up, gaining 12.27 percent to $80.06 after the company announced its plans to buy Santarus for around $2.12 billion. Janney Capital upgraded Salix from Neutral to Buy and lifted the price target from $60.00 to $95.00.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Microsemi

MSCC

were down 6.95 percent to $22.49 after the company issued a downbeat Q1 outlook.

U.S. Silica Holdings SLCA shares tumbled 4.45 percent to $31.28 after the company priced 11.5 million shares at $31.50 per share for selling holders.

Eldorado Gold

EGO

was down, falling 4.60 percent to $6.22 after the company reported a downbeat Q3 profit.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.32 percent to $94.50, while gold traded down 1.98 percent to $1,282.60.

Silver traded down 1.37 percent Friday to $21.36, while copper fell 0.55 percent to $3.23.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.44 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.05 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.53 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 0.87 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.37 percent.

Economics

The US economy added 204,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent in October. However, economists were projecting a gain of 120,000 jobs in October.

US consumer spending increased 0.2 percent in September, versus an unrevised 0.3 percent growth in August. Personal income increased 0.5 percent in the month. However, economists were expecting a 0.3 percent rise in spending and personal income.

The preliminary reading of the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 72 in November, versus a final reading of 73.2 in October. However, economists were expecting the index to increase to 75.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to speak at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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