Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Finish Line Sales Beat Views

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.25 percent to 18,345.68 while the NASDAQ declined 0.36 percent to 5,320.50. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.30 percent to 2,170.56.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, basic materials shares gained 0.14 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Fibria Celulose SA (ADR) FBR, and United States Steel Corporation X.

In trading on Friday, financial shares dropped by 0.60 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Nomura Holdings, Inc. (ADR) NMR, down 5 percent, and Citizens Holding Company CIZN, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Finish Line Inc FINL reported in-line earnings for its second quarter, while sales exceeded expectations. The company also reiterated its full year EPS outlook that is in line with predictions.

The company reported net income of $22.075 million, or $0.53 a share, down from $25.86 million, or $0.57 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Street expected $0.57 a share.

Finnish Line delivered 5.4 percent growth in revenue from $483.15 million to $509.4 million and topped analysts' predictions of $495.04 million. The company's comparable store sales witnessed 5.1 percent uptick.

Equities Trading UP

Bioline RX Ltd BLRX shares shot up 31 percent to $1.32 as the company reported in-licensing of novel treatment for liver failure conditions under strategic collaboration.

Shares of Imperva Inc IMPV got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $52.40 helped by rumors about International Business Machines Corp. IBM and Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO might be interested in acquiring the company.

Twitter Inc TWTR shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $22.41 after the latest takeover rumor. CNBC's David Faber reported Twitter has "received expressions of interest from several technology companies and may receive a formal bid shortly." According to Faber, Alphabet Inc GOOG and salesforce.com, inc. CRM are among companies that may be interested in acquiring the social media company.

Equities Trading DOWN

Enphase Energy Inc ENPH shares dropped 26 percent to $1.24 after disclosing restructuring and cost reduction initiatives, which are expected to result in annualized savings of approximately $20 million. The plan includes an 11 percent reduction of the company’s global workforce and the elimination of some non-core projects, at a cost of $3 million. Management said it has plans for a public offering of common stock, although the size is yet to be publicized.

Shares of Rave Restaurant Group Inc RAVE were down 18 percent to $3.14. RAVE Restaurant reported a Q4 loss of $2.3 million on revenue of $15.7 million.

Digital Turbine Inc APPS was down, falling around 15 percent to $1.06. Digital Turbine reported the pricing of $16 million offering of its 8.75 percent Convertible Senior Notes due 2020.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.17 percent to $46.24 while gold traded down 0.19 percent to $1,342.20.

Silver traded down 1.01 percent Friday to $19.90, while copper rose 0.07 percent to $2.20.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.78 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.51 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 1.12 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.42 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.54 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.07 percent.

Economics

The preliminary reading of the Markit manufacturing PMI declined to 51.40 in September, versus a prior reading of 52.00. Economists were expecting a reading of 51.90.

Philadelphia's Patrick Harker is set to speak in Philadelphia at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Regional Fed presidents - Philadelphia's Patrick Harker, Atlanta's Dennis Lockhart and Cleveland's Loretta Mester - will speak in Philadelphia at 12:20 p.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Houston at 12:30 p.m. ET.

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