Mid-Day Market Update: Boot Barn Rises After Q2 Beat; Rubicon Project Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.06 percent to 23,502.48 while the NASDAQ gained 0.14 percent to 6,724.37. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.05 percent to 2,578.52.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.61 percent.

In trading on Friday, basic materials shares fell 0.67 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Valhi, Inc. VHI, down 8 percent, and LSB Industries, Inc. LXU down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

The tech giant posted quarterly EPS of $2.07, beating estimates by 20 cents. Sales came in at $52.6 billion, topping estimates by $1.81 billion. Apple issued first-quarter sales guidance of $84-$87 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Insignia Systems, Inc. ISIG shares shot up 52 percent to $2.07 after the company reported Q3 net income of $451,000, or $0.04 per share, versus a year-ago net loss of $167,000, or $0.01 per share.

Shares of Boot Barn Holdings Inc BOOT got a boost, shooting up 20 percent to $10.05 after the company posted better-than-expected Q2 results and raised its FY 2018 forecast.

Control4 Corp CTRL shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $32.68 on upbeat Q3 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Rubicon Project Inc RUBI shares dropped 38 percent to $2.15 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results.

Shares of KEYW Holding Corp. KEYW were down 31 percent to $5.33 after the company posted weaker-than-expected Q3 results and lowered its FY17 sales forecast.

HMS Holdings Corp HMSY was down, falling around 35 percent to $12.26 as the company posted weaker-than-expected Q3 results and issued a downbeat sales forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.31 percent to $54.71 while gold traded down 0.18 percent to $1,275.80.

Silver traded down 0.36 percent Friday to $17.075, while copper fell 0.51 percent to $3.1275.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.27 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.31 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.07 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.12 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.05 percent.

Economics

U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs for October. However, economists were expecting a gain of 310,000 nonfarm jobs. Unemployment declined to 4.1 percent versus 4.2 percent.

U.S. trade deficit increased 1.7 percent to $43.5 billion in September, compared to $42.8 billion in August. However, economists projected a $43.3 billion deficit.

U.S. Markit services PMI slipped to 55.30 for October, versus prior reading of 55.90. Economists expected a reading of 55.90.

The ISM non-manufacturing index gained to 60.10 in October, versus previous reading of 59.80. Economists estimated a reading of 58.50.

U.S. factory orders rose 1.4 percent for September, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.3 percent gain.

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