Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Amazon Misses Sales Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.48 percent to 19,981.03 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.25 percent to 5,650.14. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.33 percent to 2,288.34.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose by 0.92 percent in trading on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included MBT Financial Corp. MBTF, and EZCORP Inc EZPW.

In trading on Friday, basic material shares slipped by 0.69 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Haynes International, Inc. HAYN, down 6 percent, and Braskem SA (ADR) BAK, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but sales missed estimates. The company also issued a weak sales forecast for the first quarter.

Amazon reported Q4 EPS of $1.54, beating analysts’ estimates by $0.19. Its revenue came in at $43.7 billion, missing expectations by $980 million. Amazon projects Q1 sales of $33.25 billion to $35.75 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $36 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Pixelworks, Inc. PXLW shares shot up 18 percent to $3.69 after the company reported stronger-than-expected Q4 results.

Shares of Paylocity Holding Corp PCTY got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $34.89 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Tableau Software Inc DATA shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $56.51 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc IDXG shares dropped 24 percent to $3.29. Interpace Diagnostics priced 1.2 million shares at $3 per share.

Shares of Kirkland's, Inc. KIRK were down around 24 percent to $10.31. Kirkland's reported a 4.6 percent drop in its Q4 comparable sales and lowered its FY2016 earnings guidance.

Deckers Outdoor Corp DECK was down, falling around 17 percent to $45.91 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter and issued a weak forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.37 percent to $53.74 while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,216.30.

Silver traded down 0.28 percent Friday to $17.38, while copper fell 1.17 percent to $2.65.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.62 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.62 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.70 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.87 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.65 percent.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 227,000 new jobs in January, while the unemployment rate increased to 4.8 percent. Economists were expecting a gain of 175,000 nonfarm jobs.

The Markit services PMI rose to 55.60 in January, versus a prior reading of 55.10. Economists were projecting a reading of 55.10.

Data on factory orders for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The ISM non-manufacturing index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.