Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Surges Over 150 Points; Deckers Shares Slide On Downbeat Earnings

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.83 percent to 20,049.85 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.34 percent to 5,655.42. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.66 percent to 2,295.91.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose by 1.41 percent in trading on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included MBT Financial Corp. MBTF, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (ADR) MTU.

In trading on Friday, basic material shares slipped by 0.85 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Cliffs Natural Resources Inc CLF, down 7 percent, and Vale SA (ADR) VALE, down 6 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

Cambrex Corporation CBM shares shot up 16 percent to $59.35 after the company posted strong quarterly results.

Shares of Paylocity Holding Corp PCTY got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $35.20 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Tableau Software Inc DATA shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $56.01 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc IDXG shares dropped 27 percent to $3.17. Interpace Diagnostics priced 1.2 million shares at $3 per share.

Shares of FireEye Inc FEYE were down around 17 percent to $10.82 after the company issued a weak outlook for the current quarter. The company also reported the departure of its CFO and Board Chairman.

Deckers Outdoor Corp DECK was down, falling around 17 percent to $46.09 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter and issued a weak forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.80 percent to $53.97 while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,219.80.

Silver traded up 0.24 percent Friday to $17.47, while copper fell 2.29 percent to $2.62.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.70 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.72 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.22 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.28 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.88 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.81 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.

U.S. factory orders rose 1.3 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 1 percent growth.

The ISM non-manufacturing index declined to 56.50 in January, versus a prior reading of 56.60. Economists expected a reading of 57.00.

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