Mid-Afternoon Market Update: U.S. Stocks Turn Higher; Endo International Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.36 percent to 17,724.30 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.17 percent to 4,725.34. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24 percent to 2,055.59.

On Friday, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included

,

, and

. In trading on Friday, healthcare shares fell by 0.62 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 17 percent, and

, down 14 percent.

reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, but issued a weak guidance for the current quarter. Excluding special items, Cognizant Technology said that its earnings would have witnessed 12.7 percent growth to $0.80 per share from $0.71 per share for the period under review. That meant its earnings topped by a penny. The company's top line increased 10 percent to $3.2 billion from $2.91 billion in the previous year quarter. However, that came modestly below the Street analysts' estimations of $3.23 billion. Going forward, the company expects adjusted earnings to be $0.80-$0.82 a share on revenue of $3.34-$3.4 billion for the second quarter. The guidance was below the Street expectations of $0.84 a share on revenue of $3.41 billion.

shares shot up 13 percent to $65.73. Herbalife reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its full-year EPS guidance. The company also reminded investors that, as previously disclosed, it is in discussions with the FTC regarding its advertising and marketing practices. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $18.71 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $26.12 as the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its revenue forecast for the year.

shares dropped 19 percent to $10.58. Square reported a loss of $(0.29) per share and sales of $379 million. Wedbush downgraded Square from Neutral to Underperform. Shares of

were down 40 percent to $15.94. Endo reported upbeat quarterly earnings, but lowered its full-year guidance. RBC Capital downgraded Endo from Outperform to Sector Perform.

was down, falling around 25 percent to $33.92. Imperva reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its first quarter, but issued a weak sales guidance for the current quarter. Needham downgraded Imperva from Buy to Hold.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.59 percent to $44.58 while gold traded up 1.61 percent to $1,292.80. Silver traded up 1.11 percent Friday to $17.52, while copper fell 0.09 percent to $2.15.

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 0.36 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.15 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.45 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.18 percent, and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.42 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.14 percent.

The U.S. economy added 160,000 new jobs in April, while the unemployment rate remained flat at 5 percent. However, economists were expecting a gain of 202,000 nonfarm jobs in the month.