Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Cognizant Issues Weak Q2 Outlook

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.11 percent to 17,640.51 while the NASDAQ declined 0.13 percent to 4,711.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.09 percent to 2,048.80. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Friday, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included LSB Industries, Inc. LXU, Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP, and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd TRQ. In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell by 0.64 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Atlantic Power Corp AT, down 6 percent, and South Jersey Industries Inc SJI, down 6 percent. Top Headline Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp CTSH reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, but issued a weak guidance for the current quarter. Excluding special items, Cognizant Technology said that its earnings would have witnessed 12.7 percent growth to $0.80 per share from $0.71 per share for the period under review. That meant its earnings topped by a penny. The company's top line increased 10 percent to $3.2 billion from $2.91 billion in the previous year quarter. However, that came modestly below the Street analysts' estimations of $3.23 billion. Going forward, the company expects adjusted earnings to be $0.80-$0.82 a share on revenue of $3.34-$3.4 billion for the second quarter. The guidance was below the Street expectations of $0.84 a share on revenue of $3.41 billion. Equities Trading UP Synthetic Biologics Inc SYN shares shot up 19 percent to $2.10. Synthetic Biologics reported a loss of $(0.12) per share for the first quarter. Shares of Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) SWIR got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $17.12 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results. Yelp Inc YELP shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $24.52 as the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its revenue forecast for the year. Equities Trading DOWN Gastar Exploration Inc GST shares dropped 35 percent to $1.42. Gastar Exploration reported adjusted Q1 loss of $(0.22) per share. KeyBanc downgraded Gastar Exploration from Overweight to Sector Weight. Shares of Endo International plc ENDP were down 33 percent to $17.79. Endo reported upbeat quarterly earnings, but lowered its full-year guidance. RBC Capital downgraded Endo from Outperform to Sector Perform. Imperva Inc IMPV was down, falling around 25 percent to $34.28. Imperva reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its first quarter, but issued a weak sales guidance for the current quarter. Needham downgraded Imperva from Buy to Hold. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.17 percent to $43.80 while gold traded up 1.70 percent to $1,293.90. Silver traded up 0.88 percent Friday to $17.48, while copper fell 0.44 percent to $2.14. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 1.18 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 1.30 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 1.63 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.91 percent, and the French CAC 40 dipped 1.59 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.96 percent. Economics The U.S. economy added 160,000 new jobs in April, while the unemployment rate remained flat at 5 percent. However, economists were expecting a gain of 202,000 nonfarm jobs in the month.