Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.14 percent to 17,016.25 while the NASDAQ surged 0.16 percent to 4,539.41. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.14 percent to 1,989.63.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares gained 0.14 percent in trading on Friday. Leading the sector was strength from Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) and Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX).

In trading on Friday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.77 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE: SID), down 3 percent, and Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF), off 3.2 percent.

Top Headline

Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) reported stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results.

The New York-based company posted a quarterly profit of $92 million, or $0.63 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $66 million, or $0.44 per share. Excluding non-recurring items, Foot Locker’s adjusted earnings came in at $0.64 per share.

Its sales climbed 13% to $1.64 billion. Excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, Foot Locker’s sales surged 11.7%. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.54 per share on revenue of $1.57 billion. Foot Locker’s same-store sales surged 7% in the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Dynegy (NYSE: DYN) shares shot up 7.62 percent to $31.99 after the company announced its plans to acquire assets from Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) and Energy Capital Partners for a total consideration of $6.25 billion.

Shares of The Fresh Market (NASDAQ: TFM) got a boost, shooting up 7.62 percent to $32.75 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings. Analysts at BB&T Capital upgraded Fresh Market from Hold to Buy.

GameStop (NYSE: GME) shares were also up, gaining 5.95 percent to $42.90 after the company reported upbeat results for its fiscal second-quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) were down 10.23 percent to $3.51 after the company issued a downbeat third-quarter outlook. However, the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results.
ANN (NYSE: ANN) shares tumbled 3.41 percent to $37.49 after the company reported upbeat profit for its fiscal second quarter and lowered its FY15 revenue outlook.

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) was down, falling 1.59 percent to $84.84 after the company announced its plans to lay off around 460 Waterloo, Iowa employees. Macquarie downgraded Deere & Company from Neutral to Underperform and lowered the price target from $85.00 to $75.00.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.95 percent to $93.07, while gold traded up 0.43 percent to $1,280.90.

Silver traded up 0.07 percent Friday to $19.50, while copper rose 0.92 percent to $3.22.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.23 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.53 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.46 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.60 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.92 percent while UK shares dropped 0.04 percent.

Economics

On the economics calendar Friday, there is no important data due out.