Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher, Dell Q2 Net Profit Drops 72%

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.13 percent to 15,132.40 while the NASDAQ surged 0.20 percent to 3,613.24. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.06 percent to 1,662.27.

Index Technicals:
Top Headline
Dell DELL reported a 72% fall in its fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Dell's quarterly earnings declined to $204 million, or $0.12 per share, from $732 million, or $0.42 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, Dell would have earned $0.25 per share.

Its revenue came in at $14.5 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.24 per share on revenue of $14.1 million.

Equities Trading UP
E-House (China) Holdings EJ shot up 13.43 percent to $7.18 after the company reported Q2 results.
Shares of Aspen Technology AZPN got a boost, shooting up 14.13 percent to $36.31 after the company reported better-than-expected profit for its fourth fiscal quarter. Benchmark Company reiterated its Buy rating on the stock.

Pandora Media P was also up, gaining 5.74 percent to $20.99 after Goldman upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Jos. A Bank Clothiers JOSB were down 5.90 percent to $41.50 after the company issued weak Q2 earnings outlook.
Nordstrom JWN shares tumbled 3.14 percent to $57.47 after the company cut its profit view for the year.
Universal Truckload Services UACL was down, falling 6.10 percent to $23.85 after the company announced the public offering of 1 million shares of common stock.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.03 percent to $107.31, while gold traded up 0.46 percent to $ 1,367.10.
Silver traded up 0.35 percent Friday to $23.07, while copper rose 0.73 percent to $3.37.
Euro zone
European shares were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.48 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.57%. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.36 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.01 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.
Economics
US housing starts increased 5.9% to an annual rate of 896,000 in July. However, economists were projecting housing starts to reach an annual rate of 915,000.
US non-farm business productivity rose to an annual rate of 0.9% in the second quarter. Economists were estimating productivity to rise 0.7% in the quarter.
The preliminary reading of the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped to 80.0 in August, from 85.1 in July. However, economists were expecting a reading of 85.2.