Mid-Day Market Update: US Stocks Rise on Friday, Gold Falls

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow plunged 0.29 percent to 15,039.39. The NASDAQ rose 0.21 percent to 3,416.32, while the S&P fell, declining 0.16 percent to 1,624.02.

The S&P 500 index rose for the third straight week, with US stocks rising on Friday. All this was spurred by the Federal Reserve Chairman discussing measures to address the risk in the financial markets. Speaking at the Chicago Federeal Banking Conference on Friday morning, Ben Bernanke said that the Federal Reserve was keeping a close watch on the potential risks associated with low interest rates.

Dataram Corporation

shot up 53.31 percent to $4.65 after Dataram announced that it was entering into an expanded partnership with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc

. Shares of Unilife Corporation

got a boost, shooting up 48.11 percent to $2.74. Unilife reported a narrowing of its fiscal Q3 loss while announcing that a previously announced 15-year pharma contract was expected to bring in up to $110 million in cumulative revenues for the company. Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc

was also up, gaining 26.98 percent to $51.11. Restoration Hardware has raised its Q1 guidance above the Capital IQ estimates.

Affymax, Inc

was down, falling 27.90 percent to $1.31 after the company announced that it had been experiencing significant operating losses since its inception and was unlikely to be able to continue operations. AutoNavi Holdings Limited (

were down 12.12 percent to $12.98. The largest ecommerce company in China, Alibaba Group, has announced that it intends to acquire a 28% stake in AutoNavi in a bid to boost its competitiveness. EMCORE Corporation

shares tumbled 14.92 percent to $3.65 after the company reported its Q2 results with a 14.3% decrease in revenues as compared to the previous quarter.

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.68 percent to $93.81, and gold declined 3.18 percent to $1,421.90. Silver traded down 2.56 percent Friday to $23.30, while copper rose 0.07 percent to $3.34.

European shares were also higher overnight on the back of Asian strength. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.34 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index rose 1.23 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.53 percent and the French CAC 40 added 0.51 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.34 percent.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, spoke at the Chicago Federal Banking Conference on Friday morning, saying that the central bank was taking measures to address the potential risk associated with the low interest rates. The monthly budget report for March by the US Treasury stood at $106.5 billion, representing a deficit. So far, 2013 has witnessed an improvement in the government's deficit, which now stands at a whopping $600.5 billion. This figure represents a 23% decline six months into the year. Esther George, President of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank is schedule to speak on the economy in Jackson, Wyoming at 2:00pm.