Markets Rise; Oracle Shuffles Top Management

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.26 percent to 17,310.66 while the NASDAQ surged 0.09 percent to 4,597.39. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17 percent to 2,014.75.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.27 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Ingles Markets IMKTA, up 1.8 percent, and Universal Corp UVV, up 1.9 percent.

Basic materials shares fell 0.06 percent on Friday. Top losers in the sector included Handy & Harman HNH, down 3.1 percent, and U.S. Concrete USCR, off 2.7 percent.

Top Headline

Oracle ORCL reported downbeat fiscal first-quarter results and unexpectedly shuffled its top management.

Founder Lawrence J. Ellison stepped aside as CEO and will serve as company’s chairman, while presidents Safra A. Catz and Mark V. Hurd were named co-chief executives. The company also boosted its existing buyback program by an additional $13 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Concur Technologies CNQR shares shot up 18.18 percent to $127.40 after the company agreed to be acquired by SAP SAP subsidiary, SAP America, for $129 per share.

Shares of Dresser-Rand Group DRC got a boost, shooting up 12.28 percent to $82.00 on report of a $85 per share bid from Siemens SIEGY.

JetBlue Airways JBLU shares were also up, gaining 2.35 percent to $11.60 after the company announced CEO David Barger will retire in February. Robin Hayes will replace Barger as CEO.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Red Hat RHT were down 4.76 percent to $57.77. Red Hat reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its FY15 forecast.

SAP SE SAP shares tumbled 3.88 percent to $74.35 after the company’s subsidiary, SAP America, announced its plans to buy Concur Technologies CNQR for $129 per share.

Oracle ORCL was down, falling 4.09 percent to $39.85 after the company reported downbeat fiscal first-quarter results and unexpectedly shuffled its top management. Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded Oracle from Buy to Hold and lowered the target price from $48 to $42.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.44 percent to $92.66, while gold traded down 0.16 percent to $1,224.90.

Silver traded down 0.42 percent Friday to $18.44, while copper rose 0.18 percent to $3.10.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.43 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.45 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.34 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.25 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.16 percent while UK shares gained 0.66 percent.

Economics

The Conference Board's index of leading indicators rose 0.20% in August, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.40% gain.