Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Immersion Drops After Q4 Results; Snap Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.04 percent to 20,995.52 while the NASDAQ declined 0.04 percent to 5,858.88. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.08 percent to 2,380.08.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Healthcare shares climbed by 0.46 percent in trading on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tenet Healthcare Corp THC, and Oclaro, Inc. OCLR.

In trading on Friday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 0.50 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. CCO, down 11 percent, and Fred's, Inc. FRED, down 11 percent.

Top Headline

Big Lots, Inc. BIG reported reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday.

Big Lots posted quarterly earnings of $2.26 per share on revenue of $1.58 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $2.22 per share on revenue of $1.59 billion.

Big Lots projects Q1 earnings of $0.95 to $1.05 per share. It expects FY earnings of $3.95 to $4.10 per share.

Equities Trading UP

BioScrip Inc BIOS shares shot up 24 percent to $1.82 after the company posted strong Q4 results and announced a private placement of $5 million in common stock.

Shares of Habit Restaurants Inc HABT got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $15.55 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings.

Snap Inc SNAP shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $27.19 on report of NBC Universal investment. Snap shares surged more than 51 percent on its debut trading on New York Stock Exchange after pricing its IPO at $17. Nomura initiated coverage of Snap with a Reduce rating and a price target of $16, while Susquehanna initiated coverage on the stock with a Neutral rating and a $22.00 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

Nutanix Inc NTNX shares dropped 24 percent to $23.71. Nutanix reported upbeat quarterly results, but issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Shares of Immersion Corporation IMMR were down around 19 percent to $8.69. Immersion posted a wider-than-expected Q4 loss and issued a weak FY17 forecast. Craig-Hallum downgraded Immersion from Buy to Hold.

SCYNEXIS Inc SCYX was down, falling around 16 percent to $2.74 after the company disclosed that it has delayed the start of new clinical studies using IV formulation of SCY-078 at the FDA's request.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.14 percent to $53.21 while gold traded down 0.42 percent to $1,227.70.

Silver traded up 0.18 percent Friday to $17.78, while copper rose 0.22 percent to $2.70.

Eurozone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.85 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.15 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.27 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.63 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.11 percent.

Economics

The Markit services PMI slipped to 53.80 for February, versus a prior reading of 53.90. Economists were expecting a reading of 53.90.

The ISM non-manufacturing index rose to 57.60 in February, versus a previous reading of 56.50. Economists projected a reading of 56.40.