After Market: Late Afternoon Rally Saves Wall Street's Week

Updated


Stocks traded lower for much of the session but made a late day comeback Friday, ending the week in positive territory as Wall Street got ready for earnings season to kick into high gear next week.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 28 points, the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) gained 19 points and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) was higher by 2 points.

Wells Fargo (WFC) was the first big bank to come out with its second quarter earnings. Profits were in line with expectations and revenue topped them. But the stock fell half a percent. For the year, though, it has roughly doubled the growth of the S&P 500, gaining 14 percent.

Cigarette maker Lorillard (LO) confirmed it was in talks to be bought by Reynolds American. The stock was one of the top gainers on the day, rallying 4.5 percent.

Amazon (AMZN) also posted some strong gains up 5.5 percent after unveiling new products for its cloud services. Elsewhere in tech, eBay (EBAY) and Facebook (FB) both gained more than 2 percent, and Twitter (TWTR) was up more than 1 percent.

In the retail industry, Gap (GPS), which also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic, slid more than half a percent after revealing that its sales fell 2 percent in June. American Apparel (APP), which seems to be in the news every day now, gained 14.5 percent and is trading above $1 a share for the first time since February. The rally was caused by news a hedge fund is injecting $25 million into the company.

Mortgage insurers traded on the downside. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed higher capital requirements for them. MGIC Investment (MTG) said its assets wouldn't meet the proposed requirements, and the stock plummeted 9.5 percent. Another insurer, Radian Group (RDN), fell more than 5 percent.

Industrial supplier Fastenal Co. (FAST) fell more than 4 percent on weak margins even though earnings grew 8 percent in the last quarter.

And finally, Family Dollar Store (FDO) continued its slide, dropping another 3 percent a day after releasing its earnings.

-Produced by Karina Huber.

What to Watch Monday:

  • Citigroup (C) releases quarterly financial results before U.S. markets open in New York.

Advertisement