Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; McDonald's Beats Q1 Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.12 percent to 18,003.75 while the NASDAQ declined 0.60 percent to 4,916.32. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 2,091.24. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Friday, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from NGL Energy Partners LP NGL and Southwestern Energy Company SWN. In trading on Friday, technology shares fell by 1.09 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Microsoft Corporation MSFT, down 7 percent, and Alphabet Inc GOOGL, down 5 percent. Top Headline McDonald's Corporation MCD reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter on Friday. The company's net income grew 35 percent to $1.098 billion in the first quarter from $811.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Its earnings also jumped 46 percent to $1.23 a share from $0.84 a share in the comparable period thus beating the analysts' estimations by $0.07 a share. McDonald's revenues dipped 1 percent to $5.903 billion from $5.958 billion in the previous year quarter, which was also above the Street predictions of $5.82 billion. The food retailer said that revenue would have increased 3 percent and profit by 40 percent based on the constant currency. Equities Trading UP NGL Energy Partners LP NGL shares shot up 60 percent to $17.16. NGL Energy Partners reported a $200 million private placement of 10.75 percent Class A Convertible Preferred Units and announced a temporary reduction in quarterly distribution. The company also updated its FY16 outlook. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD got a boost, shooting up 27 percent to $3.34 as the company reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter and issued strong revenue guidance for the current quarter. Parnell Pharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd PARN shares were also up, gaining 34 percent to $2.84 as the company issued Q1 business update. The company's total sales surged 43 percent for the first quarter. Equities Trading DOWN Lakeland Industries, Inc. LAKE shares dropped 13 percent to $9.50. Lakeland Industries reported Q4 earnings from continuing operations of $0.01 per share on revenue of $20.47 million. Shares of Rocky Brands Inc RCKY were down 15 percent to $11.54. Rocky Brands reported a Q1 loss of $0.03 per share on sales of $57.5 million. Boston Beer Co Inc SAM was down, falling around 9 percent to $157.32 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 1.20 percent to $43.70 while gold traded down 0.17 percent to $1,248.20. Silver traded up 1.34 percent Friday to $17.37, while copper rose 0.69 percent to $2.27. Eurozone European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.37 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.26 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.27 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.46 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.35 percent, while U.K. shares fell 1.16 percent. Economics The flash reading of Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.80 for April, versus a prior reading of 51.50. However, economists were expecting a reading of 52.00.