Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Turns Negative; Sanchez Energy Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.13 percent to 19,864.29 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.48 percent to 5,573.96. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.13 percent to 2,273.27.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Healthcare shares gained around 0.43 percent in trading on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included DexCom, Inc. DXCM, and Array Biopharma Inc ARRY.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell by 0.33 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais CEMIG-ADR CIG, down 3 percent, and Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ADR) ELP, down 3 percent.

Top Headline

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday.

JPMorgan said it earned $1.71 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $23.4 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.44 per share on revenue of $24.0 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Naked Brand Group Inc NAKD shares shot up 56 percent to $1.62 after the company announced plans to to merge with Bendon Limited.

Shares of Sanchez Energy Corp SN got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $11.11. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation APC announced the sale of Eagleford Shale assets to Sanchez Energy and Blackstone Energy Partners for $2.3 billion.

Telenav Inc TNAV shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $8.15 after the company reported the settlement of patent lawsuit. The company projects Q2 revenue of $51 million to $52 million and loss of $0.30 per share to $0.28 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Uranium Resources, Inc. URRE shares dropped 19 percent to $2.55 after the company reported the pricing of $9.7 million public offering.

Shares of Skyline Medical Inc SKLN were down around 15 percent to $2.39. Skyline Medical priced its stock and warrant offering for gross proceeds of $3.9 million.

Inventure Foods Inc SNAK was down, falling around 13 percent to $6.30. DA Davidson downgraded Inventure Foods from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $10.00 to $8.00.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.19 percent to $53.20 while gold traded down 0.26 percent to $1,196.70.

Silver traded down 0.21 percent Friday to $16.79, while copper rose 0.64 percent to $2.69.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.95 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.11 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.87 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.94 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.20 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.62 percent.

Economics

The producer price index increased 0.3 percent in December, matching economists’ expecttaions for a 0.3 percent growth.

U.S. retail sales rose 0.6 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent growth

U.S. business inventories rose 0.70 percent for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.50 percent growth.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index slipped to 98.10 in January, versus a prior reading of 98.20. Economists were expecting a reading of 98.10.