Mid-Afternoon Market Update: S&P 500 and Google Both Look to Close at Record Highs

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.15 percent to 15,394.35 while the NASDAQ surged 1.17 percent to 3,908.14. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.56 percent to 1,743.88.

Top Headline
General Electric Co GE reported an 8.6% drop in its third-quarter net profit. GE's quarterly profit declined to $3.2 billion, or $0.31 per share, down from $3.5 billion, or $0.33 per share, in the year-ago period. Its operating earnings came in at $0.36 per share. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.40 per share. Its total revenue fell to $35.7 billion from $36.3 billion.

However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.35 per share on revenue of $35.96 billion. Revenue from GE Capital declined 5.4% to $10.67 billion.

Equities Trading UP
Align Technology ALGN shot up 23.91 percent to $56.84 after the company reported upbeat third-quarter results.

Shares of Athenahealth ATHN were also up, gaining 24.38 percent to $131.21 following a strong third quarter report and a conference call that impressed traders.

Google GOOG was also up, gaining 13.12 percent to $1,005.36 after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Ariad Pharmaceuticals ARIA were down 38.67 percent to $2.74 after the company announced discontinuation of the Phase 3 EPIC trial of Iclusig.

Advanced Micro Devices AMD shares tumbled 13.20 percent to $3.55 after the company reported a 6% fall in its personal computer chip sales.

Acacia Research ACTG was down, falling 21.00 percent to $15.50 after the company reported Q3 results. Stephens downgraded the stock from Overweight to Underweight.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.24 percent to $101.11, while gold traded down 0.55 percent to $1,315.70. Silver traded up 0.16 percent Friday to $21.91, while copper fell 0.20 percent to $3.29.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.65 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.12 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.39 percent and the French CAC 40 surged 0.91 percent while U.K. shares climbed 0.66 percent.

Economics
There were no major economic releases Friday morning.