Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Gains Over 100 Points; Ubiquiti Networks Shares Drop On Downbeat Earnings

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.57 percent to 20,286.61 while the NASDAQ gained 0.44 percent to 5,740.12. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.43 percent to 2,317.83.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Basic materials shares climbed by 1.52 percent in trading on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (ADR) SID, and Core Molding Technologies, Inc. CMT.

In trading on Friday, technology shares rose by just 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Ubiquiti Networks Inc UBNT, down 14 percent, and Magnachip Semiconductor Corp MX, down 12 percent.

Top Headline

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Thursday.

NVIDIA reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $1.13 per share on revenue of $2.17 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.83 per share on revenue of $2.10 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) SWIR shares shot up 28 percent to $23.95 after the company posted strong Q4 results.

Shares of Sears Holdings Corp SHLD got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $7.10. Sears announced plans to reduce outstanding debt and pension obligations by at least $1.5 billion. The company also issued a strong revenue forecast.

Infinera Corp. INFN shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $11.92 after the company reported stronger-than-expected Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

ChannelAdvisor Corp ECOM shares dropped 24 percent to $10.85 following Q4 results. ChannelAdvisor reported Q4 net income of $5.8 million on revenue of $31.8 million.

Shares of Organovo Holdings Inc ONVO were down around 17 percent to $3.15. Organovo posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss, but sales missed expectations. The company also issued a weak sales forecast for the full year.

Ubiquiti Networks Inc UBNT was down, falling around 14 percent to $54.94 after reporting downbeat Q2 earnings. Credit Suisse downgraded Ubiquiti Networks from Neutral to Underperform.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.70 percent to $53.90 while gold traded down 0.02 percent to $1,236.50.

Silver traded up 1.12 percent Friday to $17.94, while copper rose 4.37 percent to $2.77.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.16 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.64 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.45 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.21 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.04 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.40 percent.

Economics

U.S. import prices increased 0.4 percent in January, versus a revised 0.5 percent growth in December. Export prices rose 0.1 percent in January.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 95.70 in February, versus a prior reading of 98.50. Economists projected a reading of 97.90.

The U.S. government reported a budget surplus of $51.3 billion in January, according to the Treasury Department. However, analysts were expecting a $40 billion surplus for January.