After Market: Late Gains Turn Bearish Day into a Dow Record
A late-afternoon buying spree lifted the Dow Jones industrial average into record territory Friday. The Dow (^DJI) rose 32 points, edging above the high water mark set last week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) added nearly 3 points, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) gained 20 points.
A number of retail stocks bucked the weakness that was prevalent during most of the day, thanks to better-than-expected sales figures for April. Gap (GPS) led the way, up 3 percent. It also raised its earnings outlook for the first quarter.
J.C. Penney (JCP), Urban Outfitters (URBN) and American Eagle (AEO) also gained about 3 percent.
But Ralph Lauren (RL) dropped 2 percent. Earnings topped expectations but the company warns that expenses will rise in 2014. Over the past year, Ralph Lauren stock is down 19 percent.
And Radio Shack (RSH) fell another 9 percent. It's now trading at just $1.34 a share. The company says it will not close as many stores as planned because of disagreements with some key lenders.
Elsewhere, Apple (AAPL) edged lower on reports it plans to pay more than $3 billion to buy Beats, the maker of fashionable headphones and speakers, and operator of a music streaming service.
AthenaHealth (ATHN) gained nearly 6 percent, but it's been a rough week for the company. Activist investor David Einhorn said he's shorting the stock.
On the earnings scorecard, CBS (CBS) fell 2 percent. Its net rose, but revenue fell -- and that, known as top-line growth -- is the big focus for investors right now.
The digital advertising company Rocket Fuel (FUEL) tumbled 21 percent as net fell short of expectations and the outlook was disappointing.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) fell 3 percent, also hurt by a weak outlook.
A pair of tech firms beat expectations. Symantec (SYMC), maker of Norton computer security software, rose 3 percent. And Computer Sciences (CSC) jumped 7 percent.
Finally, 3D printer companies lost another dimension. Stratasys (SSYS) fell 4½ percent after warning that expenses are on the rise. VoxelJet (VJET) and Exone (XONE) also fell. All three have lost a third of their value or more so far this year.
What to Watch Monday:
The Treasury Department releases the federal budget for April at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
These major companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial results
-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.
