Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Edges Lower; Aethlon Medical Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.02% to 29,295 while the NASDAQ rose 0.03% to 9,359.70. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17% to 3,322.50.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.7% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anonima EDN, up 5%, and Pampa Energia S.A. PAM, up 6%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

Schlumberger Limited SLB reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Schlumberger reported fourth-quarter earnings of $0.39 per share, beating the Street estimate of $0.37 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $8.2 billion, beating the Street estimate of $8.15 billion.

Equities Trading UP

iMedia Brands, Inc. IMBI shares shot up 38% to $4.35 after the company reported the launch of Shaquille O'Neal's Invicta collection on ShopHQ.

Shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. PLAY got a boost, shooting up 12% to $46.77 following news of a new stake by KKR. The firm showed a 6.3% stake in the company.

Kirkland's, Inc. KIRK shares were also up, gaining 24% to $1.57 after the company announced it plans to close 27 stores in early 2020 to reduce expenses. The company appointed Woody Woodward as CEO.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aethlon Medical, Inc. AEMD shares tumbled 26% to $2.0420 after the company reported a 1.885 million share common stock offering at $2 per share.

Shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. MGPI were down 27% to $38.60 after the company issued FY19 EPS and sales guidance below analyst estimates. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $80 to $55 per share.

Coeur Mining, Inc. CDE was down, falling 17% to $5.86 after the company late Thursday reported its Q4 and FY19 production results. Gold output met guidance but silver output was below.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $58.57, while gold traded up 0.7% to $1,560.60.

Silver traded up 0.8% Friday to $18.08, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.8465.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.96%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.14%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.84% Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.72%, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.02% while UK shares rose 0.85%.

Economics

U.S. housing starts rose 16.9% for December to an annual rate of 1.608 million units. Building permits slipped 3.9% to an annual rate of 1.416 million in December.

U.S. industrial production fell 0.3% in December, versus a revised 0.8% rise in November.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 99.1 in January, versus a reading of 99.3 in the previous month.

U.S. job openings slipped to 6.9 million in November, versus 7.36 million in the previous month, the Labor Department reported.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs increased by 14 to 673 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported..