Mid-Day Market Update: Mattress Firm Drops Following Earnings Miss; Global Blood Therapeutics Shares Surge

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.39 percent to 17,914.17 while the NASDAQ declined 0.87 percent to 4,915.27. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.59 percent to 2,103.08. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Friday, utilities shares slipped by just 0.3 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Pure Cycle Corporation PCYO and SJW Corp. SJW. In trading on Friday, energy shares tumbled by 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Baytex Energy Corp (USA) BTE, down 7 percent, and Teekay LNG Partners L.P. TGP, down 6 percent. Top Headline Westlake Chemical Corporation announced plans to acquire Axiall Corp for $33.00 per share in all-cash transaction. The transaction is likely to complete by the fourth quarter of 2016. Equities Trading UP Sophiris Bio Inc SPHS shares shot up 78 percent to $2.09 after the company reported successful results from Phase 2a trial of topsalvsin in localized prostate cancer. Shares of Axiall Corp AXLL got a boost, shooting up 26 percent to $32.51 after Westlake Chemical Corporation WLK announced plans to acquire Axiall for $33.00 per share in all-cash transaction. Global Blood Therapeutics Inc GBT shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $26.57 after the company reported new data supporting safety and efficacy profile of GBT440. Equities Trading DOWN GigPeak Inc GIG shares dropped 19 percent to $2.13. GigPeak priced offering of 11.32 million shares of common stock at $2 per share. Shares of Mattress Firm Holding Corp MFRM were down 15 percent to $28.64 as the company reported a wider-than-expected loss for its first quarter and lowered its annual outlook. Bank of America downgraded Mattress Firm from Neutral to Underperform and lowered the price target from $42.00 to $28.00. Gevo, Inc. GEVO was down, falling around 35 percent to $0.45. Gevo priced 21.08 million shares at $0.45 per share. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.70 percent to $49.70 while gold traded up 0.53 percent to $1,279.40. Silver traded up 0.59 percent Friday to $17.37, while copper fell 0.17 percent to $2.04. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 2.48 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 3.07 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index slipped 3.52 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 2.40 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 2.23 percent, while U.K. shares fell 1.98 percent. Economics The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index slipped to 94.30 in June, versus a prior reading of 94.70. Economists were expecting a reading of 94.00. The Federal Budget report for May will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.