Mid-Day Market Update: Finisar Gains On Earnings Beat; FXCM Shares Drop

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 1.10 percent to 17,182.53 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.30 percent to 4,722.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.18 percent to 2,013.02. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Friday, financial shares surged by 1.90 percent. Top gainers in the sector included 1st Century Bancshares, Inc. FCTY, Hertz Global Holdings Inc HTZ, and Investors Real Estate Trust IRET. In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by just 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Medifast Inc MED, down 7 percent, and Bridgford Foods Corporation BRID, down 5 percent. Top Headline Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday. The Birmingham, Alabama-based company posted a quarterly profit of $0.76 per share, on revenue of $245.7 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.73 per share on revenue of $246.2 million. Hibbett projects full-year earnings of $2.90 to $3.04 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $3.08 per share. . Equities Trading UP 1st Century Bancshares, Inc. FCTY shares shot up 33 percent to $10.96 after the company agreed to be acquired by MidFirst Bank for $11.22 per share in cash. Shares of Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. ULTA got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $190.05 after the company reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued a strong forecast for the current quarter. The company also announced a new $425 million share repurchase program, and plans to enter a $200 million "accelerated" buyback program with Goldman Sachs. Finisar Corporation FNSR shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $16.68 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings. Equities Trading DOWN FXCM Inc FXCM shares dropped 23 percent to $11.26 after the company delivered a fourth-quarter net loss of $(15.75) per share, and revenue of $66.99 million. Shares of TrovaGene Inc TROV were down 12 percent to $5.32. Trovagene reported a Q4 loss of $(0.26) per share. Sunrun Inc RUN was down, falling around 14 percent to $6.12. Sunrun reported a Q4 loss of $(0.15) per share on revenue of $99.6 million. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.95 percent to $38.20, while gold traded down 1.06 percent to $1,259.30. Silver traded up 0.36 percent Friday to $15.61, while copper rose 1.15 percent to $2.25. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 2.50 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 3.70 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index jumped 4.78 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 3.26 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 3.03 percent, while U.K. shares rose 1.67 percent. Economics U.S. import prices declined 0.3 percent in February, versus economists' expectations for a 0.6 percent drop.