Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Surges 100 Points, Tesla Shares Rise

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.68 percent to 15,090.01 while the NASDAQ surged 0.70 percent to 3,467.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.66 percent to 1,626.09. Top Headline On Wednesday, TransDigm Group TDG reported that its board declared a special dividend of $22 per share. Equities Trading UP SeaDrill SDRL shot up 1.17 percent to $40.78 after BofA Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock. Shares of Tesla Motors TSLA got a boost, shooting up 2.82 percent to $118.49 on reports of strong sales in Hong Kong. TransDigm Group TDG was also up, gaining 1.47 percent to $155.96 after the company declared a special dividend of $22 per share. Equities Trading DOWN Shares of World Acceptance WRLD were down 8.83 percent to $80.88 as the company delayed its latest annual report. Lululemon Athletica LULU was down, falling 2.22 percent to $63.07 after the company filed mixed securities shelf. Telecom Italia S.p.A. TI shares tumbled 1.94 percent to $6.57 after Equita downgraded the stock from “buy” to “hold.” Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 1.60 percent to $102.86, while gold traded down 3.07 percent to $1,213.50. Silver traded down 4.85 percent Friday to $18.75, while copper fell 3.28 percent to $3.07. Euro zone European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.67 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.74 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX tumbled 2.36 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 1.46 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.72 percent. Economics The US economy added 195,000 new jobs in June, versus economists' estimates of 165,000 gain. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.6% in June.