Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Falling as the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference Continues to Make Waves

Top Headline
General Electric Co GE reported a rise in its fourth quarter profit.

Its revenue jumped 3% to $40.38 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.53 per share on revenue of $40.27 billion. GE's industrial segment profit jumped 12% to $5.5 billion.

Electronic Arts EA shot up 11.68 percent to $24.06 after CRT Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $26.00 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Silver Spring Networks SSNI were down 23.66 percent to $17.91 after the company issued downbeat Q4 forecast. Credit Suisse downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral and cut the price target from $26.00 to $23.00.

Intel INTC was down, falling 3.56 percent to $25.59 after the company reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.32 percent to $94.40, while gold traded up 0.94 percent to $1,251.90.

Silver traded up 1.08 percent Friday to $20.32, while copper rose 0.06 percent to $3.34. Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.07 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.29 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.24 percent and the French CAC 40 surged 0.20 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.12 percent.

Economics
U.S. housing starts dropped 9.8% to an annual rate of 999,000 in December. However, economists were expecting housing starts to drop to 985,000 in the month.

The preliminary reading of the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 80.40 in January, versus a prior reading of 82.50. However, economists were expecting a reading of 83.50.