Dow Falls Over 100 Points; LinkedIn Shares Jump On Upbeat Results

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.72 percent to 16,444.53 while the NASDAQ declined 0.93 percent to 4,329.04. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.70 percent to 1,917.09.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 0.38 percent on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Strayer Education STRA, up 4.5 percent, and The Procter & Gamble Company PG, up 3.8 percent.

In trading on Friday, energy shares tumbled by 1.17 percent. Top losers in the sector included CIRCOR International CIR, Bill Barrett BBG, and Trina Solar TSL.

Top Headline

Procter & Gamble PG reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter profit.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company posted a quarterly profit of $2.58 billion, or $0.89 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.88 billion, or $0.64 per share. Its adjusted earnings rose 20% to $0.95 per share.

Its sales declined 1% to $20.2 billion, while organic sales rose 2% in the quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.91 per share on revenue of $20.48 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Bally Technologies BYI shares shot up 29.45 percent to $77.89 after the company agreed to be acquired by Scientific Games SGMS for $83.30 per share in cash.

Shares of LinkedIn LNKD got a boost, shooting up 9.38 percent to $197.58 after the company reported upbeat second-quarter results and issued a strong outlook for the current quarter. Expedia EXPE shares were also up, gaining 4.71 percent to $83.16 after the company reported upbeat results for the second quarter. Analysts at Raymond James upgraded Expedia from Market Perform to Outperform.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Web.com Group WWWW were down 24.31 percent to $20.09 after the company reported Q2 earnings of $0.62 per share on revenue of $138.20 million and issued a weak FY14 forecast. The company also announced the acquisition of Scoot. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded Web.com Group from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $34.00 to $24.00.

GoPro GPRO shares tumbled 14.67 percent to $40.94 despite better-than-expected Q2 results. Dougherty & Company downgraded GoPro from Buy to Neutral, according to Bloomberg.

SunPower SPWR was down, falling 7.87 percent to $33.84 after the company issued a cautious outlook. However, the company reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.88 percent to $97.31, while gold traded up 0.97 percent to $1,295.30.

Silver traded down 0.06 percent Friday to $20.40, while copper fell 0.32 percent to $3.22.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.21 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 1.80 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.01 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 2.11 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 1.03 percent while UK shares fell 0.83 percent.

Economics

In July, the US economy added 209,000 nonfarm jobs, while the unemployment rate rose to 6.2% versus 6.1%. However, economists were estimating an addition of 235,000 nonfarm jobs in the month.

US consumer spending increased 0.4% in June, while personal income surged 0.4%. However, economists were expecting a 0.5% rise in spending and a 0.4% increase in personal income.

The final reading of Markit PMI manufacturing index declined to 55.8 in July, versus the flash estimate of 56.3. However, economists were expecting a reading of 56.5.

The final reading of Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 81.80 in July, versus a prior reading of 81.30. However, economists were expecting a reading of 81.80.

The ISM manufacturing composite index increased to 57.1 in July, from 55.3 in June. Economists projected a reading of 56.0 in July.

US construction spending declined 1.80% in June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.50% gain.