Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Slightly Higher; Amazon Earnings Top Views

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.03 percent to 17,737.23, while the NASDAQ climbed 0.22 percent to 5,157.46. The S&P fell, dropping 0.05 percent to 2,101.19.

Leading And Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the technology sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and NetGear, Inc. NTGR.

In trading on Friday, basic materials shares fell by 1.20 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Cliffs Natural Resources Inc CLF, down 9 percent, and AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) AU, off 5 percent.

Related Link: Mid-Morning Market Update For July 23

Top Headline

On Thursday, Amazon reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter.

The Seattle, Washington-based company reported quarterly net income of $92 million, or $0.19 per share, versus last year's loss of $126 million, or $0.27 per share.

Its sales surged 19.9 percent to $23.19 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.14 per share on revenue of $22.39 billion.

Equities Trading Is Up

StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. SFG shares shot up 48 percent to $113.69 after the company agreed to be acquired by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance in a $5 billion deal.

Marketo Inc MKTO shares were also up, gaining 23 percent to $30.74 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Shares of Amazon got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $560.07 after the company reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter.

Equities Trading Is Down

Spectranetics Corp SPNC shares tumbled 28 percent to $17.77. Spectranetics reported a Q2 loss of $0.17 per share on revenue of $61.7 million. The company expected FY adjusted loss of $0.96 per share to $0.70 per share and revenue of $240 million to $250 million.

Shares of TrueCar Inc TRUE were down 40 percent to $6.39 after the company issued a weak forecast for second quarter and FY15.

Biogen Inc BIIB was down, falling 17 percent to $319.96. Biogen reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, but the company’s revenue missed analysts’ estimates. The company also lowered its FY15 forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.60 percent to $48.74, while gold traded down 1.13 percent to $1,081.70.

Silver traded down 1.74 percent Friday to $14.45, while copper fell 0.63 percent to $2.37.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.11 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.73 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.46 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.45 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.01 percent while UK shares fell 0.23 percent.

Economics

The flash reading of the Markit manufacturing PMI increased to 53.8 in July versus 53.6 in June. Economists were expecting a reading of 53.6.

Sales of new U.S. homes declined 6.8 percent to an annual rate of 482,000 in June. Economists were projecting a rate of 546,000 in June.

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