Mid-Day Market Update: Zoe's Kitchen Surges On Acquisition News; Amyris Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.06 percent to 25,575.01 while the NASDAQ declined 0.47 percent to 7,769.54. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.05 percent to 2,839.42.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the telecommunication services shares rose 0.79 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cincinnati Bell Inc. CBB 3.4% up 3 percent, and Frontier Communications Corporation FTR 1.4% up 2 percent.

In trading on Friday, information technology shares fell 0.52 percent.

Top Headline

Deere & Company DE 2.98% reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Earnings came in at $2.59 per share, missing estimates of $2.75 per share. Total equipment sales climbed 36 percent to $9.3 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp. TIK 61.54% shares shot up 58 percent to $4.10 after the company reported a multi-million dollar order from the German government.

Shares of Zoe's Kitchen, Inc. ZOES 34.54% got a boost, shooting up 34 percent to $12.77 after the company agreed to be acquired by CAVA Group for $12.75 per share.

IZEA, Inc. IZEA 29.12% shares were also up, gaining 26 percent to $1.3801 after the company highlighted several contracts won in Q3. CEO Ted Murphy said the company could be at the beginning of a rebound in bookings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. ZN 26.08% shares dropped 27 percent to $1.8323. Zion Oil & Gas disclosed that it is completing the initial testing program of its primary zones located within the Triassic-age Mohilla Formation of the Megiddo-Jezreel #1 well.

Shares of Adtalem Global Education Inc. ATGE 14.66% were down 15 percent to $47.20 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results.

Amyris, Inc. AMRS 13.33% was down, falling around 12 percent to $6.575 after the company announced a 7.65 million share secondary offering at $6.25 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.55 percent to $65.82 while gold traded up 0.14 percent to $1,185.60.

Silver traded down 0.26 percent Friday to $14.675, while copper rose 0.67 to $2.634.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.47 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.50 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.05 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.58 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.49 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.26 percent.

Economics

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped to 95.3 in August, versus 97.9 in July. However, economists were expecting a reading of 98.1.

The leading economic index increased 0.6 percent in July, versus a 0.5 percent increase in June.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.