Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Ruby Tuesday Misses Q3 Views

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.61 percent to 17,648.87 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.54 percent to 4,874.54. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.63 percent to 2,054.77. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Friday, energy shares gained by 2.30 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included GulfMark Offshore, Inc. GLF, up 11 percent, and Denbury Resources Inc. DNR, up 12 percent. In trading on Friday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares slipped by 0.23 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Ruby Tuesday, Inc., down 13 percent, and Gap Inc GPS, down 10 percent. Top Headline Ruby Tuesday, Inc. reported weaker-than-expected results for its third quarter on Thursday. Ruby Tuesday also announced its Chief Financial Officer Jill Golder will be resigning after three years with the company. The restaurants operator and franchisor posted Q3 EPS of $0.03, missing estimates by $0.02. Revenue of $271.47 million also fell $12.67 million short of expectations. Ruby Tuesday also lowered its top and bottom line fiscal year 2016 outlook. Equities Trading UP Alliance Fiber Optic Products Inc AFOP shares shot up 19 percent to $18.43 after the company agreed to be acquired by Corning Incorporated GLW for $18.50 per share. Shares of Depomed Inc DEPO got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $17.64 after notable activist investment firm Starboard Value disclosed it has taken a 9.8 percent stake in the company. Anavex Life Sciences Corp. AVXL shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $5.95 as the company reported that it has received the FDA approval for Orphan Drug Designation for Frontotemporal dementia treatment. Equities Trading DOWN Viking Therapeutics Inc VKTX shares dropped 40 percent to $1.16 after the company priced 7.5 million share offering at $1.25 per share. Shares of SeaChange International SEAC were down 28 percent to $3.99 after the company reported a worse-than-expected fourth quarter print and announced a CEO change. Ruby Tuesday, Inc. RT was down, falling around 13 percent to $4.52 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its third quarter. Ruby Tuesday also announced its Chief Financial Officer Jill Golder will be resigning after three years with the company. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 5.13 percent to $39.17 while gold traded down 0.23 percent to $1,234.70. Silver traded up 0.24 percent Friday to $15.20, while copper rose 0.07 percent to $2.08. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 1.22 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.87 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 3.63 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.44 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 1.45 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.93 percent. Economics U.S. wholesale inventories dropped 0.5 percent for February, versus a 0.2 percent decline in January.