Finish Line Gains On Upbeat Results, JC Penney Shares Fall

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.48 percent to 15,255.45 while the NASDAQ declined 0.01 percent to 3,787.13. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.36 percent to 1,692.49.

Top Headline
BlackBerry (BBRY) reported a wider fiscal second-quarter loss.

BlackBerry posted a quarterly loss of $965 million, or $1.84 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $229 million, or $0.44 per share. Its adjusted net loss from continuing operations came in at $0.47 per share.

Its revenue dropped 45% to $1.6 billion from $2.9 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.49 per share on revenue of $1.61 billion.

Equities Trading UP
RDA Microelectronics (RDA) shot up 8.79 percent to $15.10 after the company received a non-binding acquisition proposal.

Shares of Finish Line (FINL) got a boost, shooting up 7.86 percent to $23.90 after the company reported a 6.1% rise in its fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Nike (NKE) was also up, gaining 4.97 percent to $73.83 after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) were down 23.25 percent to $10.63 after the company reported that the results from Phase 2 trial of NKTR-181 missed primary efficacy endpoint.

Zoltek Companies (ZOLT) shares tumbled 10.05 percent to $16.65 after after Toray Industries agreed to buy Zoltek for $16.75 per share. Dougherty & Company downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell.

J. C. Penney Company (JCP) was down, falling 8.64 percent to $9.52 after the company priced its underwritten public offering of 84.0 million shares of its common stock at $9.65 per share.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.16 percent to $102.87, while gold traded up 1.03 percent to $1,337.80.

Silver traded up 0.34 percent Friday to $21.84, while copper rose 0.57 percent to $3.33.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.47 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 1.27 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.03 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.01 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.81 percent.

Economics
Consumer spending rose 0.3% in August, matching economists' expectations for a 0.3% rise. Personal income increased 0.4% last month, versus economists' estimates of a 0.4% rise.

The Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to a final reading of 77.5 in September, from 82.1 in August. However, economists were estimating a final reading of 78.00.

Data on farm prices for September will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

BY Jake L'Ecuyer