Mid-Day Market Update: NVIDIA Gains On Earnings Beat; ConforMIS Shares Drop

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.22 percent to 17,681.77 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.26 percent to 4,749.64. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.15 percent to 2,061.01. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Friday, the technology sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, Nortek Inc NTK, and Formula Systems (1985) Ltd. (ADR) FORTY. In trading on Friday, telecommunications services shares fell by 0.91 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Iridium Communications Inc IRDM, down 2 percent, and China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) CHL, down 3 percent. Top Headline J C Penney Company Inc JCP reported a narrower-than-expected Q1 loss, but missed analysts' sales estimates. JC Penney reported Q1 adjusted loss of $0.32 per share on revenue of $2.81 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.38 per share on revenue of $2.92 billion. Equities Trading UP NVIDIA Corporation NVDA shares shot up 13 percent to $40.04 after the company reported upbeat results for the first quarter and issued a strong revenue outlook for the current quarter. Shares of HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc HTGM got a boost, shooting up 38 percent to $3.32 as HTG Molecular Diagnostics reported Q1 net loss of $1.02 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $14.99 per share. The company reported an immuno-oncology research collaboration deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY. Concordia Healthcare Corp CXRX shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $25.99. Concordia Healthcare reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share on sales of $228.535 million. Equities Trading DOWN ConforMIS Inc CFMS shares dropped 52 percent to $4.89 as the company lowered its FY16 sales forecast. The company also reported Q1 loss of $0.37 per share on revenue of $20.3 million. JP Morgan downgraded ConforMIS from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $18.00 to $8.00. Shares of EXCO Resources Inc XCO were down 36 percent to $1.12. EXCO Resources reported the formation of a special committee to explore strategic alternatives. Nordstrom, Inc. JWN was down, falling around 11 percent to $40.45 as the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter and lowered its FY16 guidance. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.65 percent to $45.93 while gold traded down 0.10 percent to $1,269.90. Silver traded down 0.34 percent Friday to $17.05, while copper fell 0.27 percent to $2.07. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.21 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.30 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.19 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.78 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.56 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.19 percent. Economics U.S. retail sales rose 1.3 percent in April, versus economists' expectations for a 1 percent growth. U.S. producer prices increased 0.2 percent in April. However, economists were expecting a 0.3 percent increase. U.S. business inventories rose 0.40 percent for March, versus economists' expectations for a 0.20 percent gain. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 95.80 in May, versus a prior reading of 89.00. Economists were expecting a reading of 90.00.