Mid-Afternoon Market Update: RocketFuel Drops Following First Earnings Report, Markets Rise

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.61 percent to 15,688.23 while the NASDAQ surged 1.26 percent to 3,905.80. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.91 percent to 1,763.18.

Top Headline
McDonald's MCD reported downbeat comparable-restaurant sales for October.

McDonald's global same-restaurant sales increased 0.5 percent in October. However, analysts were expecting a 0.6 percent growth. Analysts at RBC Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a Sector Perform rating.

Equities Trading UP
Santarus SNTS shot up 37.95 percent to $32.03 after Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP announced its plans to buy Santarus for around $2.12 billion. Santarus and Pharming also announced new data from open-label repeat treatment study with RUCONEST.

Shares of Universal Display OLED got a boost, shooting up 24.36 percent to $36.25 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and issued a strong FY13 revenue forecast.

SunEdison SUNE was also on the rise, gaining a staggering 17.06 percent to $12.48 after the company reported a strong third quarter report and the solar sector as a whole continued to show strength.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Microsemi MSCC were down 4.18 percent to $23.16 after the company issued a downbeat Q1 outlook.

U.S. Silica Holdings SLCA shares tumbled 1.86 percent to $32.15 after the company priced 11.5 million shares at $31.50 per share for selling holders.

Rocket Fuel FUEL was also down, falling 16.98 percent to $39.31 after the company reported disappointing earnings in its first quarterly report since being public.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.30 percent to $94.48, while gold traded down 1.73 percent to $1,285.90.

Silver traded down 1.06 percent Friday to $21.44, while copper rose 0.34 percent to $3.26.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.05 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.49 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.12 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 0.48 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.10 percent.

Economics
The US economy added 204,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent in October. However, economists were projecting a gain of 120,000 jobs in October.

US consumer spending increased 0.2 percent in September, versus an unrevised 0.3 percent growth in August. Personal income increased 0.5 percent in the month. However, economists were expecting a 0.3 percent rise in spending and personal income.

The preliminary reading of the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 72 in November, versus a final reading of 73.2 in October. However, economists were expecting the index to increase to 75.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to speak at 3:30 p.m. ET.