Finish Line Rises On Upbeat Results, Accenture Shares Drop

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.36 percent to 14,970.04 while the NASDAQ declined 0.04 percent to 3,400.65. The S&P fell, dropping 0.20 percent to 1,609.92.

Top Headline
BlackBerry (BBRY) posted a loss in the first quarter. BlackBerry posted a quarterly loss of $84 million, or $0.16 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $518 million, or $0.99 per share. Its loss from continuing operations came in at $84 million, while its adjusted loss from continuing operations was $67 million, or $0.13 per share. BlackBerry's revenue surged to $3.07 billion from $2.81 billion. However, analysts were projecting adjusted earnings of $0.07 per share on revenue of $3.38 billion. BlackBerry shipped 6.8 million smartphones in the first quarter.

Equities Trading UP
Molycorp (MCP) shot up 8.20 percent to $6.07 following announcement of end of SEC investigation. Shares of Finish Line (FINL) got a boost, shooting up 4.15 percent to $22.08 on upbeat Q1 results. Arch Coal (ACI) was also up, gaining 3.89 percent to $3.74 after the company agreed to sell Utah mines to Bowie Resources for $435 million in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY) were down 25.24 percent to $10.83 after the company posted a loss in the first quarter. Accenture (ACN) was down, falling 11.12 percent to $71.30 after the company lowered its forecast for the fiscal year. AZZ (AZZ) shares tumbled 11.23 percent to $38.26 after the company reported a 9% drop in its fiscal first-quarter earnings and issued a weak current-quarter view.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.13 percent to $97.18, while gold traded up 0.50 percent to $1,217.70. Silver traded up 4.38 percent Friday to $19.37, while copper fell 0.05 percent to $3.06.

Euro zone
European shares were lower today. German retail sales jumped 0.8 percent in May vs. April on expectations of a modest gain of 0.2 percent. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.04 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.24 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX tumbled 0.39 percent and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.62 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.45 percent.

Economics
The Chicago PMI declined to a reading of 51.6 in June, versus 58.7 in May. However, economists were projecting a 55.0 reading. The final reading of the Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped to a reading of 84.10 in June, versus a final reading of 84.5 in May. The preliminary June reading was 82.70. However, economists were expecting a reading of 83.00. Fed member John Williams is expected to speak.

BY Jake L'Ecuyer