Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Jumps 7%; Golar LNG Shares Gain on News of MoU With Schlumberger

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 1.18 percent to 16,070.43 while the NASDAQ surged 2.15 percent to 4,568.27. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.65 percent to 1,899.82. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Friday, energy shares surged by 4.63 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Golar LNG Limited (USA) GLNG, up 42 percent, and Ultra Petroleum Corp. UPL, up 21 percent. In trading on Friday, utilities shares rose by just 1.4 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Korea Electric Power Corporation (ADR) KEP, down 0.6 percent, and Consolidated Edison, Inc. ED, down 0.8 percent. Top Headline General Electric Company GE reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter. However, industrial profit declined 8 percent in the quarter. GE's total profit surged to $6.28 billion, or $0.64 per share in the latest quarter, versus a year-ago profit of $5.15 billion, or $0.51 per share. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.52 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.49 per share. Its total revenue gained 1.4 percent to $33.89 billion, while industrial segment operating profit dropped to $5.52 billion from $5.99 billion. Equities Trading UP 8x8, Inc. EGHT shares shot up 15 percent to $12.84 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results. Shares of Golar LNG Limited (USA) GLNG got a boost, shooting up 45 percent to $17.32 on news of Memorandum of Understanding with Schlumberger Limited. SLB regarding global development of gas reserves. Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) BLDP shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $1.36 after the company reported a $12 million agreement for fuel cell stacks to power commercial buses in China. Equities Trading DOWN Cardiovascular Systems Inc CSII shares dropped 34 percent to $8.26. Cardiovascular Systems reported a Q2 loss of $0.47 per share on revenue of $41.4 million. Needham downgraded Cardiovascular Systems to Underperform. Shares of Agile Therapeutics Inc AGRX were down 10 percent to $6.35 after the company priced 5.511 million shares at $6.35 per share. Digi International Inc. DGII was down, falling around 17 percent to $8.66. Digi International reported upbeat Q1 earnings, but the company's revenue missed analysts' expectations. The company also issued a weak Q2 forecast. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 7.11 percent to $31.63, while gold traded up 0.27 percent to $1,101.20. Silver traded up 1.75 percent Friday to $14.34, while copper rose 1.15 percent to $2.02. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 3.52 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 3.99 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 2.92 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 2.63 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 3.85 percent, while U.K. shares climbed 2.56 percent. Economics The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to a reading of -0.22 in December, versus a prior reading of -0.30. The Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 52.7 in January, versus a previous reading of 51.20. Economists were expecting a reading of 51.10. Sales of existing homes climbed 14.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in December, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, economists were expecting a 8.9 percent growth. US leading economic index dropped 0.2 percent in December.