Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Up 2.5%; Cara Therapeutics Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.44 percent to 21,381.65 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.24 percent to 6,159.33. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.38 percent to 2,428.79.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 0.76 percent in the US market on Friday.

In trading on Friday, healthcare shares fell by 0.14 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Dynavax Technologies Corporation DVAX, down 5 percent, and Pacific Biosciences of California PACB, down 3 percent.

Top Headline

Nike Inc NKE reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Thursday.

Nike posted adjusted earnings of $0.60 per share on revenue of $8.7 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.50 per share on revenue of $8.63 billion. Inventories rose 4 percent as of May 31, 2017.

Equities Trading UP

West Marine, Inc. WMAR shares shot up 33 percent to $12.83 after the company agreed be acquired by Monomoy Capital Partners for $12.97 per share.

Shares of Parkway Inc PKY got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $22.86. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announced plans to buy Parkway for $23.05 per share.

Albireo Pharma, Inc. ALBO shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $19.63. Wedbush initiated coverage on Albireo Pharma with an Outperform rating and a $58.00 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cara Therapeutics Inc CARA shares dropped 37 percent to $16.19 after the company released concerning top-line results from a phase 2B trial of its oral CR845 therapy for the treatment of pain associated with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. Janney Capital downgraded Cara Therapeutics from Buy to Neutral.

Shares of MoSys Inc. MOSY were down 27 percent to $1.70. MoSys priced 1.325 million shares at $1.70 per share.

Windtree Therapeutics Inc WINT was down, falling around 62 percent to $0.325 after the company disclosed top line results for its AEROSURF® phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants. The company announced that AEROSURF trial did not meet the primary endpoint. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Windtree Therapeutics from Buy to Hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.52 percent to $46.06 while gold traded down 0.31 percent to $1,241.90.

Silver traded down 0.08 percent Friday to $16.64, while copper rose 0.58 percent to $2.711.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.34 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.82 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.58 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.73 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.65 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.51 percent.

Economics

U.S. consumer spending rose 0.1 percent for May, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent growth. Personal income increased 0.40 percent for May, versus estimates of 0.30 percent gain.

The Chicago PMI rose to 65.70 in June, versus a June reading of 59.40. However, economists were expecting a reading of 58.00.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index increased to 95.10 in June, versus previous reading of 94.50. Economists projected a reading of 94.50.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs dropped by 2 to 756 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.