Mid-Day Marke Update: Chip Makers Continue to Fall, Life Rallies on Buyout Rumors

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.04 percent to 13,590.13 while the NASDAQ fell 0.36 percent to 3,124.63. The S&P also fell, decreasing 0.13 percent to 1,478.25.

Boeing

continues to make headlines this morning as the probe into its problematic 787 dreamliner begins. As details of the probe come out, the focus has been placed on its highly flammable lithium-ion batteries. It seems that shares have stabilized as traders look to decide what moves to make, and traded down just under 0.4 percent early in the session.

Life Technologies

rallied 10.27 percent to $60.62 following the market opening Friday after rumors of a buyout circulated about the company. Morgan Stanley

also rallied, up 7.52 percent to $22.31 after posting a large increase in profits for the fourth-quarter. Shares of Sony

moved higher as well, up 5.81 percent to $12.60 after the company announced it would sell its headquarters in New York City for $1.1 billion.

Intel

took a hit in early trading, falling 6.74 percent to $21.14 after the company beat on the bottom line but missed on the top line when it reported earnings Thursday. Shares of AMD

dropped as well, falling 6.93 percent to $2.55 as traders feared what the company's earnings may look like following Intel's poor performance. Capital One Financial

was also down, dropping 7.76 percent to $56.81 after the company missed analyst estimates.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.30 percent to $95.65, while gold traded down 0.15 percent to $1,688.50. Silver traded up 0.38 percent Friday to $31.92.

European markets were up across the board this morning, shrugging off some weak data out of Japan and Spain. Tied for the lead were the Italian MIB index and the Spanish Ibex, both rising 0.45 percent, while the French CAC rose a solid 0.36 percent.

In economic news Friday morning, Michigan consumer sentiment came in at 71.30, below analyst estimates of 75.00 and the prior release of 72.90.