Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; Zynga Lowers 2014 Forecast

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.12 percent to 16,387.07 while the NASDAQ surged 0.08 percent to 4,338.49. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.14 percent to 1,912.28.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares surged around 0.47 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included WGL Holdings WGL, up 5.8 percent, and American Water Works Company AWK, up 1.6 percent.
In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.09 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Medifast MED, down 9.6 percent, and Universal UVV, off 3.9 percent.

Top Headline
Zynga ZNGA on Thursday posted downbeat second-quarter revenue and lowered its 2014 earnings forecast. The company also issued a weak revenue forecast for the current quarter.
Zynga's adjusted EPS came in at $0.00, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.00 per share. However, its revenue dropped to $153.20 million, missing estimates of $191.21 million.
The company cut its FY14 EPS forecast from $0.01-$0.03 to $(0.01).
Equities Trading UP
Mercadolibre MELI shares shot up 14.79 percent to $106.11 after the company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
Shares of Air Methods AIRM got a boost, shooting up 8.91 percent to $57.93 on upbeat quarterly results.
NVIDIA NVDA shares were also up, gaining 7.62 percent to $18.79 after the company posted higher Q2 earnings and issued a strong revenue forecast for the current quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Post Holdings POST were down 23.99 percent to $33.83 after the company reported a Q3 loss of $0.30 per share on revenue of $633.0 million. The company also announced its plans to acquire American Blanching Company. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded Post Holdings from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $70.00 to $45.00.
Volcano VOLC shares tumbled 19.58 percent to $12.69 on Q2 results. The company reported Q2 earnings of $0.01 per share on revenue of $102.60 million. Volcano announced its plans to divest its Axsun Technologies subsidiary and also announced the litigation settlement agreement with St. Jude Medical STJ. Oppenheimer downgraded Volcano from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $22.00 to $15.00.
Zynga ZNGA was down, falling 4.11 percent to $2.80 after the company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter revenue and issued a downbeat revenue forecast for the third quarter. Zynga also lowered its 2014 outlook.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.27 percent to $97.60, while gold traded down 0.12 percent to $1,310.90.
Silver traded down 0.25 percent Friday to $19.94, while copper fell 0.22 percent to $3.17.

Euro zone
European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.45 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.67 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.04 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.12 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.01 percent while UK shares dipped 0.38 percent.

Economics
US productivity rose 2.5% in the second quarter, versus a revised 4.5% fall in the earlier quarter. However, economists were projecting a 1.6% rise in productivity. Unit-labor costs climbed 0.6% in the quarter, versus an 11.8% rise in the prior quarter.
US wholesale inventories rose 0.3% in June, while sales climbed 0.2% in the month.