After Market: Investors Give Thumbs Up to Jobs Report, Thumbs Down to Russia

DailyFinance Staff
Updated

Another volatile week on Wall Street ended with a whimper Friday. The market rallied early on the back of a better-than-expected jobs report, but the gains quickly faded. Tensions over the situation in Ukraine prompted investors to take a cautious stance heading into the weekend.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 30 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) added 1 point, but the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) fell 16 points. Despite the day's loss, the Nasdaq rang up its fifth straight weekly gain. It's up about 3.5 percent so far this year.

The retail sector has had a tough week, with Staples (SPLS), Radio Shack (RSH) and others suffering big losses. But there were two big winners in the sector Friday. %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%Big Lots (BIG) jumped 23 percent as earnings and sales beat expectations. Still, the stock is a bit lower than it was a year ago. Foot Locker (FL) rose 9 percent. It too topped expectations.

Gap (GPS) edged higher, and that has to be considered a win for shareholders after the company posted a big drop in sales last month. And Delia's (DLIA) rose 11 percent as a big investment firm raised its stake in the company to more than 6 percent.

Biotechs continued to lose momentum. Regeneron (REGN) fell 3 percent after the FDA raised questions about potential side effects from a new cholesterol medication the company is developing with Sanofi (SNY).

Biogen (BIIB) fell 3.5 percent and Illumina (ILMN) lost 1.5 percent.

Analogic (ALOG) dropped 16 percent. The maker of medical imaging systems posted a surge in earnings, but it wasn't big enough to meet expectations.

But some alternative energy companies rallied. Plug Power (PLUG) jumped 30 percent. Fuel Cell (FCEL) gained 17 percent after the Energy Department extended a contract for a fuel cell plant in Connecticut.

Elsewhere, headphone maker Skullcandy (SKUL) jumped 25 percent. Net fell but still beat expectations. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose 6 percent in heavy trading.

Coupons.com (COUP) had a spectacular debut. It nearly doubled in price from its $16 a share IPO. But FireEye (FEYE) fell 10 percent after pricing a secondary offering at a pretty steep discount to Thursday's closing price.

What to Watch Monday:

  • Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans speaks on the economy and monetary policy in Columbus, Ga., at 12:40 p.m. Eastern time.

  • Urban Outfitters (URBN) reports quarterly earnings after U.S. markets close.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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