Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; LinkedIn Issues Weak Forecast

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.43 percent to 16,345.60 while the NASDAQ dropped 1.23 percent to 4,454.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.74 percent to 1,901.32.

On Friday, telecommunications services shares surged by 0.05 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 3 percent, and

up 2.3 percent. In trading on Friday, technology shares fell by 1.38 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 41 percent, and

, down 30 percent.

reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Thursday, but the company issued a weak forecast for the first quarter. The company outlined fiscal year 2016 non-GAAP EPS of $3.05-$3.20 and $3.6-$3.65 billion in revenue, a far cry from $3.67 EPS and $3.91 billion estimates. In terms of Q4 earnings, the company reported non-GAAP EPS of $0.94, beating expectations of $0.78.

shares shot up 37 percent to $22.50 after the company agreed to be acquired by Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. for $23.95 share in cash. MFLEX reported Q4 earnings of $0.41 per share on revenue of $169 million. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $34.96 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results.

shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $13.50 as the company reported upbeat Q4 results.

shares dropped 50 percent to $0.600 after the company reported plans to explore strategic alternatives related to its capital structure. Shares of

were down 49 percent to $42.09. Tableau Software posted upbeat results for the fourth quarter on Thursday. According to Mizuho's Abhey Lamba, the company missed license revenue estimates.

was down, falling around 38 percent to $119.97. LinkedIn reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter, but the company issued a weak forecast for the first quarter.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.25 percent to $31.64, while gold traded down 0.81 percent to $1,148.10. Silver traded down 0.71 percent Friday to $14.75, while copper fell 1.41 percent to $2.10.

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.11 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.92 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.08 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.39 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.18 percent, while U.K. shares rose 1.12 percent.

The U.S. economy added 151,000 new jobs in January, while the unemployment rate declined to 4.9 percent. However, economists were projecting an addition of 190,000 nonfarm jobs. The U.S. trade deficit widened 2.7 percent to $43.4 billion in December, compared to $42.2 billion in November. U.S. exports declined 0.3 percent to $181.5 billion, while imports increased 0.3 percent to $224.9 billion in December.