Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Groupon Tops Q4 Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.70 percent to 15,769.11 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.57 percent to 4,291.22. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.78 percent to 1,843.26.

On Friday, energy shares surged by 2.1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 10 percent, and

up 9 percent. In trading on Friday, utilities shares slipped by 0.01 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 4 percent, and

, down 2 percent.

reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Thursday. Earnings were $0.04 per share above Wall Street's breakeven estimates, while revenue were $917.2 million above $845 million consensus. Groupon added that it sees full year 2016 revenue between $2.75 billion and $3 billion versus estimates of $2.97 billion.

shares shot up 23 percent to $2.94. Pro-Dex reported Q2 earnings of $0.09 per share on revenue of $5.439 million. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $2.73 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Thursday.

shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $5.26 after the company reported upbeat Q4 earnings.

shares dropped 32 percent to $17.13 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results. Shares of

were down 24 percent to $23.76 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results and issued a downbeat forecast.

was down, falling around 24 percent to $15.52 after the company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and issued a weak earnings forecast.

In commodity news, oil traded up 6.10 percent to $27.81, while gold traded down 1.03 percent to $1,235.00. Silver traded down 0.66 percent Friday to $15.69, while copper rose 1.52 percent to $2.04.

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 jumped 2.40 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.72 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 3.19 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.07 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 1.79 percent, while U.K. shares rose 2.08 percent.

U.S. import prices declined 1.1 percent in January, while export prices slipped 0.8 percent in January. U.S. retail sales gained 0.2 percent in January, versus economists' expectations for a 0.1 percent growth. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 90.70 in February, versus a prior reading of 92.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 92.00.