Mid-Day Market Update: Microsoft Drops On Earnings Miss; NGL Energy Partners Shares Surge

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.30 percent to 17,928.96 while the NASDAQ declined 1.34 percent to 4,879.39. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.36 percent to 2,083.86.

On Friday, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from

and

. In trading on Friday, technology shares fell by 1.81 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 8 percent, and

, down 6 percent.

reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter on Friday. The company's net income grew 35 percent to $1.098 billion in the first quarter from $811.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Its earnings also jumped 46 percent to $1.23 a share from $0.84 a share in the comparable period thus beating the analysts' estimations by $0.07 a share. McDonald's revenues dipped 1 percent to $5.903 billion from $5.958 billion in the previous year quarter, which was also above the Street predictions of $5.82 billion. The food retailer said that revenue would have increased 3 percent and profit by 40 percent based on the constant currency.

shares shot up 32 percent to $14.15 after the vertically-integrated crude oil logistics company announced several strategic actions, including receipt of a $200 million investment. NGL Energy Partners announced a $200 million private placement of 10.75 percent Class A Convertible Preferred Units with Oaktree Capital Management. The company also announced a temporary reduction in its quarterly cash distribution to $0.39 per common unit, which will generate an additional $170 million in coverage over the next year. The company updated its FY16 outlook. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 36 percent to $3.56 as the company reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter and issued strong revenue guidance for the current quarter.

shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $12.05 as the company reported strong Q1 results.

shares dropped 8 percent to $51.59 as the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter on Thursday. Shares of

were down 15 percent to $11.49. Rocky Brands reported a Q1 loss of $0.03 per share on sales of $57.5 million.

was down, falling around 9 percent to $157.57 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results.

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.22 percent to $44.14 while gold traded down 0.54 percent to $1,243.50. Silver traded up 0.84 percent Friday to $17.29, while copper rose 1.13 percent to $2.28.

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.30 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.27 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.84 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.53 percent, while U.K. shares fell 1.40 percent.

The flash reading of Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.80 for April, versus a prior reading of 51.50. However, economists were expecting a reading of 52.00.