Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NASDAQ Down 2.5%; DuPont Fabros Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.06 percent to 21,169.55 while the NASDAQ declined 2.55 percent to 6,160.68. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.62 percent to 2,418.61.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy sector was the top gainer in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Superior Energy Services, Inc. SPN, Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. PHX, and SM Energy Co SM.

In trading on Friday, technology shares fell 3.59 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Ultra Clean Holdings Inc UCTT, down 5 percent, and Brooks Automation, Inc BRKS, down 10 percent.

Top Headline

VeriFone Systems Inc PAY posted a loss for the second quarter and lowered its FY17 outlook on Thursday.

Verifone posted Q2 earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $474 million. Analysts expected earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $472.6 million.

Verifone now expects FY17 adjusted earnings of $1.32 to $1.34 per share, versus earlier outlook of $1.35 to $1.39 per share. It also lowered its sales forecast from $1.895 billion-$1.91 billion, to $1.865 billion-$1.87 billion.

Equities Trading UP

DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. DFT shares shot up 10 percent to $61.07. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. DLR announced plans to merge with DuPont Fabros.

Shares of Layne Christensen Company LAYN got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $8.78 after the company posted a narrower-than-expected loss for its first quarter.

Enzo Biochem, Inc. ENZ shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $10.34. Enzo Biochem reported a Q3 loss of $71,000 on revenue of $27.1 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. TOO shares dropped 21 percent to $2.66. Morgan Stanley downgraded Teekay Offshore from Equal-Weight to Underweight.

Shares of Endo International plc ENDP were down 16 percent to $11.56 in reaction to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's request for the company to withdraw from the market its opioid painkiller called Opana ER.. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Endo from Buy to Hold.

Cloudera Inc CLDR was down, falling around 17 percent to $19.12. Cloudera reported Q1 adjusted loss of $0.27 per share on revenue of $79.6 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.39 percent to $45.82 while gold traded down 0.63 percent to $1,271.50.

Silver traded down 1.23 percent Friday to $17.20, while copper rose 1.32 percent to $2.644.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.32 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.23 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.38 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.80 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.67 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.04 percent.

Economics

U.S. wholesale inventories declined 0.50 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent gain.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 11 to 927 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.