- Dow Jones Industrial Average down 168.32 (-1.27%) to 13,038.27
- S&P 500 down 22.47 (-1.61%) to 1,369.10
- Nasdaq Composite Index down 67.96 (-2.25%) to 2,956.34
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- Nikkei 225 up 0.31%
- Hang Seng Index down 0.77%
- China Shanghai Composite Index up 0.49%
- FTSE 100 down 2.02%
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday after April job additions came in well below forecasts and investors turned their focus toward the weekend elections in Europe. This weekend, France will hold the second round of its presidential election and Greece will elect a new parliament.
The U.S. added only 115,000 new jobs in April, the smallest amount in six months. However, there were a few bright spots in the employment data. The overall jobless rate declined to 8.1% from 8.2% - a three-year low and topping expectations - but only because more than 340,000 people stopped looking for work and dropped out of the labor force. March hires were revised higher to 154,000 from an initial reading of 120,000 while the gain in February was revised up to 259,000 from 240,000. Experts polled by Bloomberg News were expecting a 160,000 increase in jobs last month. New hires have averaged 135,000 in April and March, down from a 252,000 monthly average during December, January and February.
Oil fell below $100 a barrel today and ended at its lowest level in nearly three months. Crude declined by $4.05, or 4%, to end at $98.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest since Feb 7th, and down 6.1% on the week.
In corporate news, Power Integrations (POWI) spiked and set a new 52-week high after the company reported Q1 earnings of $0.36 per share, ex one-time items, versus the Capital IQ consensus of $0.27. Revenues were $71.8 million, versus the analysts' estimate of $67.26 million. For Q2, the company expects Q2 revenues of $78 million - $84 million, ahead of the Street estimate of $74.42 million.
Shares of Digital River (DRIV) continued to fall today following the company's after hours report that in Q1 it pulled in EPS of $0.30, a penny ahead of the analyst consensus on Thomson Reuters. Revenue was $102.4 million, better than expectations of $100 million.
Gold futures shook off the disappointing jobs report to end $10.40 higher, or 0.6%, to $1,645.20 an ounce on the Comex, ending its four-week losing streak.
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) SQNM, Shares rising despite company reporting wider Q1 net loss than Wall Street expected.
(+) DLB, Microsoft will include Dolby audio technology in Windows 8 operating system.
(+) DGI, Receives unsolicited $790-million buyout offer from GeoEye (GEOY).
(+) DOLE, Begins strategic review after Q1 earnings slumped.
(+) DLB, upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Avondale Partners.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) DRIV, Guides Q2 profit below Street forecasts; revenues also miss.
(-) QLGC, Fiscal Q4 operating earnings decline $0.05 from year-ago, sales fall 7.5%.
(-) EL, Reports adjusted EPS of $0.38 vs. $0.33 in analyst consensus.
(-) SGYP, Plans to offer 10 million shares to fund research and development.
(-) PDFS, Reports Q1 Results.
(-) BONE, Reports Q1 Results, Rev's Increase, Lower Loss Compared to Analyst Estimates.
