Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down 2%; Synergy Pharma Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.21 percent to 21,187.59 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.50 percent to 6,277.79. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.15 percent to 2,433.76.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Healthcare sector was the top gainer in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc SGYP, Cooper Companies Inc COO, and Codexis, Inc. CDXS.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 1.12 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included PDC Energy Inc PDCE, down 6 percent, and Southwestern Energy Company SWN, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY 2017 earnings outlook on Thursday.

Lululemon announced it plans to restructure its girls activewear brand, ivivva, toward a primarily e-commerce focused business. The company also announced it will close 40 of its 55 ivivva branded stores and convert half the remaining stores to Lululemon branded stores.

Equities Trading UP

CGG SA (ADR) CGG shares shot up 25 percent to $6.80 after the company reported an agreement in principle on financial restructuring plan with main creditors and DNCA.

Shares of Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc SGYP got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $4.19. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Synergy Pharmaceuticals with an Overweight rating and a $11.00 price target.

Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $55.69 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY 2017 earnings outlook.

Equities Trading DOWN

Boot Barn Holdings Inc BOOT shares dropped 12 percent to $6.50. Boot Barn reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Shares of Endocyte, Inc. ECYT were down 31 percent to $1.88 after the company issued clinical updates for EC1456 and EC1169, and announced plans to reduce workforce by 40 percent via restructuring. Endocyte said that it is continuing EC1169 program in taxane-exposed patients, but ending clinical development of EC1456 and EC1169 in taxane-naïve patients.

RH RH was down, falling around 26 percent to $42.60. RH reported in-line earnings for its first quarter, but lowered its earnings forecast for the year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.05 percent to $47.37 while gold traded up 0.71 percent to $1,279.10.

Silver traded up 0.95 percent Friday to $17.445, while copper fell 0.70 percent to $2.5695.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.39 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.19 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.25 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.47 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.04 percent.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 138,000 new jobs in May. However, economists were expecting a gain of 185,000 nonfarm jobs. The unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent in May, from 4.4 percent.

U.S. trade deficit increased 5.2 percent to $47.6 billion in April, compared to revised $45.3 billion in March. However, economists projected a deficit of $46.5 billion in April. Exports dropped 0.3 percent to $191 billion, while imports rose 0.8 percent to $238.6 billion in April.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak in Reading, Pennsylvania at 12:45 p.m. ET.

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

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Dallas at 1:00 p.m. ET.