Mid-Day Market Update: Acacia Research Shares Decline On Downbeat Results; Emeritus Spikes Higher

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.24 percent to 16,171.28 while the NASDAQ surged 0.31 percent to 4,280.97. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.28 percent to 1,844.86.

Leading and Lagging Sectors In trading on Friday, healthcare shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.65 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in energy sector included Emeritus ESC, with shares up 36 percent, and Isis Pharmaceuticals ISIS, with shares up around 17 percent. Energy sector was the leading decliner in the US market today. Energy shares fell around 0.08 percent in today's trading. Among the energy stocks, Endeavour International END was down more than 12 percent, while Cabot Oil & Gas COG tumbled around 7 percent.

Top Headline
After the closing bell Thursday, Groupon GRPN projected a surprise loss for the first quarter. For the first quarter, Groupon expected an adjusted loss of $0.02 to $0.04 per share on revenue of $710 to $760 million. However, analysts were projecting a profit of $0.06 per share on revenue of $668.7 million. Groupon posted a quarterly net loss of $81.2 million, versus a year-ago loss of $81.1 million. On a per share basis, it lost $0.12 per share. Excluding items, Groupon earned $0.04 per share. Its revenue climbed to $768.4 million. However, analysts projected earnings of $0.02 per share on revenue of $718 million.

Equities Trading UP
Emeritus ESC shot up 36.77 percent to $29.35 after the company and Brookdale Senior Living BKD signed a definitive merger agreement.

Shares of CommScope Holding Company COMM got a boost, shooting up 20.56 percent to $22.87 after the company reported Q4 results. Analysts at Jefferies upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and lifted the price target from $17.50 to $25.

Isis Pharmaceuticals ISIS was also up, gaining 17.92 percent to $60.22 on positive ISIS-SMN Rx data in children with SMA. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Fleetmatics Group PLC FLTX were down 11.95 percent to $35.17 after the company issued a weak profit forecast.

Groupon GRPN shares tumbled 17.74 percent to $8.46 after the company projected a surprise quarterly loss.

Acacia Research ACTG was down, falling 9.46 percent to $13.49 on weaker-than-expected Q4 results.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.57 percent to $102.16, while gold traded up 0.27 percent to $1,320.40.

Silver traded up 0.03 percent Friday to $21.69, while copper fell 0.08 percent to $3.26.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today.

The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.09 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.30 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.40 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.59 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.37 percent. Economics
Sales of existing homes declined 5.1% to an annual rate of 4.62 million in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, economists were projecting a rate of 4.67 million.