Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Rises Over 50 Points; Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Shares Slide

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.23 percent to 25,123.05 while the NASDAQ gained 0.43 percent to 7,858.55. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16 percent to 2,809.04.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the information technology shares climbed 0.53 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Limelight Networks, Inc. LLNW up 7 percent, and Anixter International Inc. AXE up 11 percent.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 1.15 percent.

Top Headline

Honeywell International Inc. HON reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY18 guidance.

The company posted quarterly profit of $2.12 per share, on revenue of $10.919 billion. Analysts projected earnings of $2.01 per share on revenue of $10.81 billion.

Equities Trading UP

ReWalk Robotics Ltd. RWLK shares shot up 40 percent to $1.01 after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expanded access to the company’s exoskeletons for paralyzed veterans.

Shares of SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. SLS got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $1.68 following the announcement of Fast Track designation for its multiple myeloma candidate. Sellas said the FDA has granted Fast Track designation to its lead product candidate galinpepimut-S, or GPS, a cancer vaccine that's being evaluated for multiple myeloma.

Tilray, Inc. TLRY shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $26.943 after surging 31.71 percent on Thursday. Tilray priced its 9 million share offering at $17 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. SKX shares dropped 23 percent to $25.745 after the footwear company disappointed investors with its second-quarter earnings report and third-quarter guidance. The company guided its third-quarter EPS to a range of 50 cents to 55 cents on revenue of $1.2 billion to $1.225 billion versus the Street's model of 68 cents per share and $1.26 billion.

Shares of Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ZYNE were down 26 percent to $7.7232 after the cannabinoid-focused company announced a public offering of common stock. The company said proceeds will be used to support the clinical development of its ZYN002 therapy and for general corporate purposes.

Diversified Restaurant Holdings, Inc. SAUC was down, falling around 16 percent to $1.0149 after the company reported pricing of its public offering of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.73 percent to $69.97 while gold traded up 0.37 percent to $1,228.50.

Silver traded up 0.70 percent Friday to $15.51, while copper rose 2.08 to $2.7515.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.21 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.16 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1.03 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.33 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.09 percent.

Economics

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.