Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down 1.5%; Natural Grocers Shares Drop On Earnings Miss

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 1.35 percent to 25,833.90 while the NASDAQ declined 0.90 percent to 7,319.30. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.03 percent to 2,792.92.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday afternoon, the healthcare shares slipped by just 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN), up 9 percent, and Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW), up 6 percent.

In trading on Friday, energy shares tumbled 2.47 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI), down 8 percent, and Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZN) down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for its first quarter, but issued weak Q2 guidance on Thursday.

The world’s largest company reported first quarter earnings of $3.89 per share, topping estimates by 3 cents. Sales came in at $88.3 billion, $1.02 billion ahead of estimates.

Apple issued weak Q2 guidance, seeing sales between $60 billion-$62 billion vs. $65.7 billion estimates. Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones during the period.

Equities Trading UP

Viavi Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:VIAV) shares shot up 15 percent to $10.00 after the company posted upbeat Q2 results and announced plans to buy Cobham AvComm and Wireless Test and Measurement businesses for $455 million in cash.

Shares of USA Truck, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAK) got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $24.45 after the company posted upbeat Q4 results.

Johnson Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ:JOUT) shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $70.16 after the company reported Q1 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

IMPINJ Inc (NASDAQ:PI) shares dropped 45 percent to $12.67 after raising its fourth quarter outlook, but warned of an anticipated decline in sales in the first quarter. The company cites "softness in our endpoint IC volumes" as the reason for the weak first quarter guidance.

Shares of Aceto Corporation (NASDAQ:ACET) were down 27 percent to $7.95 after reporting weak quarterly results.

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc (NYSE:NGVC) was down, falling around 24 percent to $6.88 after missing first quarter earnings estimates. Adjusted earnings came in at 4 cents per share, missing estimates by 3 cents. Sales came in $6 million ahead of estimates, at $203 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5 percent to $64.79 while gold traded down 1.04 percent to $1,333.90.

Silver traded down 2.62 percent Friday to $16.705, while copper fell 0.75 percent to $3.185.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.81 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.44 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1.68 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.64 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.63 percent.

Economics

The U.S. added 200,000 new jobs in January. However, economists were expecting a 184,000 gain in nonfarm jobs. Unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent for January.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

U.S. factory orders rose 1.7 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.5 percent gain.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in San Francisco at 3:30 p.m. ET.