Mid-Day Market Update: Expedia Surges On Strong Results; Genpact Shares Slip

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.60 percent to 15,721.87 while the NASDAQ surged 1.24 percent to 4,107.59. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.82 percent to 1,787.90.

Top Headline
On Thursday, LinkedIn LNKD reported upbeat fourth-quarter results. However, the company issued a weak forecast. LinkedIn expected Q1 revenue of $455 million to $460 million, versus analysts' estimates of $471 million. LinkedIn posted its Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.39 per share on revenue of $447.2 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.38 per share on revenue of $438 million.

Equities Trading UP

athenahealth ATHN shot up 26.45 percent to $175.87 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results.

Shares of Aaron's AAN got a boost, shooting up 10.98 percent to $30.02 on upbeat Q4 earnings.

Expedia EXPE was also up, gaining 13.37 percent to $73.85 after the company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Genpact G were down 17.82 percent to $14.16 after the company issued a downbeat FY14 revenue forecast.

LinkedIn LNKD shares tumbled 6.58 percent to $208.75 after the company issued a weak guidance. Bank of America cut the price target on LinkedIn from $240.00 to $232.00.

VeriSign VRSN was down, falling 6.13 percent to $52.02 after the company reported Q4 results.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.62 percent to $98.45, while gold traded up 0.40 percent to $1,262.20.

Silver traded up 0.04 percent Friday to $19.94, while copper rose 0.34 percent to $3.24.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today.

The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.08 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.96 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.49 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.96 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.20 percent.

Economics
The U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate declined to 6.6% versus 6.7%. However, economists were projecting an addition of 180,000 nonfarm jobs.

Data on consumer credit for December will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.