Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.38 percent to 16,899.30 while the NASDAQ surged 0.47 percent to 4,316.57. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.36 percent to 1,947.46.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Friday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.78 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Petróleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR ), up 6.8 percent, and Panhandle Oil and Gas (NYSE: PHX ), up 3.9 percent.
Healthcare shares fell by 0.09 percent in trading on Friday. Top decliners in the sector included Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ), and Progenics Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: PGNX ).
Top Headline
On Thursday, VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY ) reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
VeriFone posted a quarterly net loss of $23.9 million, or $0.22 per share, versus a year-ago net loss of $58.4 million, or $0.54 per share. On an adjusted basis, it earned $0.37 per share.
Its revenue climbed 9% to $466.4 million. However, analysts were projecting a profit of $0.32 per share on revenue of $443.4 million. For the current quarter, VeriFone expected revenue of $455 million to $460 million, versus analysts' estimates of $453.8 million.
Equities Trading UP
GW Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ: GWPH ) shares shot up 7.94 percent to $73.17 following announcement of the FDA Fast Track Designation for Epidiolex.
Shares of Angie's List (NASDAQ: ANGI ) got a boost, shooting up 9.50 percent to $11.06. Bank of America upgraded Angie's List from Neutral to Buy.
VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY ) shares were also up, gaining 7.16 percent to $36.24 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Hertz Global Holdings (NYSE: HTZ ) were 9.18 percent to $27.69. Hertz Global said it will amend 10-K to correct errors.
Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ) shares tumbled 7.52 percent to $4.18 after the company priced 25 million shares at $4.00 per share.
Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND ) was down, falling 11.34 percent to $29.5 after the company reported downbeat fiscal third-quarter earnings. Diamond Foods posted its adjusted earnings of $0.11 per share on revenue of $190.9 million. Analysts were projecting earnings of $0.17 per share on revenue of $191.7 million.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.20 percent to $102.68, while gold traded down 0.04 percent to $1,252.80.
Silver traded down 0.33 percent Friday to $19.02, while copper fell 1.13 percent to $3.06.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today.
The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.62 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 1.72 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.42 percent.
Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.40 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.65 percent while UK shares gained 0.62 percent.
Economics
The US economy added 217,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.3%. However, economists were projecting an addition of 215,000 nonfarm jobs.
Data on consumer credit for April will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
