On The Fly: Top stock stories for Friday

Stocks opened with modest losses after the futures reversed from their pre-opening highs. The averages drifted until a consumer confidence reading surprised to the upside, beginning a morning of strong trading. The market weakened in the early afternoon after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein indicted several Russian conspirators on charges related to interference with the 2016 presidential election, though the losses were contained and never pushed the averages far into the red. The indexes gathered themselves and then moved in a narrow range for the reminder of the day. In a stark reversal of the terrible week the market saw to kick off February, the Nasdaq had its best week since 2016 and the Dow just completed its best week since 2011. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., import prices rose 1.0% in January, while export prices increased 0.8%, both of which were above expectations. Housing starts climbed 9.7% to a 1.33M unit rate in January while building permits rose 7.4% to a 1.4M unit rate. the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose 4.2 points to 99.9 in the preliminary February reading. Shares of steel and aluminum makers were in focus after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross released a set of reports in which he recommended potential tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. President Trump has not yet made any final decisions with regard to the contents of such reports. In energy news, Baker Hughes reported that U.S. rig count is unchanged from last week at 975 rigs. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Dow member Coca-Cola (KO) rose 0.45% after the beverage giant reported sales that beat analyst expectations for its most recent quarter. Also of note, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said on the company's Q4 earnings conference call that 2018 is "shaping up to be stronger" than 2017... On the other side, Kraft Heinz (KHC) were 2.6% lower after reporting fourth quarter sales and profits that fell short of consensus forecasts... CBS (CBS) shares initially looked set to advance today following the company's earnings report last night, though they turned lower as the morning progressed. The stock fell 2.5% despite the company's better than expected revenue and earnings as the primary focus of investors remains a potential re-merger with Viacom (VIAB)... Meanwhile, shares of Riot Blockchain (RIOT) dropped 33.4% after CNBC posted an investigated report on the company and reported that chief executive officer John O'Rourke backed out of an interview with the news network 10 minutes after setting it up. The company later released a statement defending the company against the "one-sided" CNBC piece, adding that it is "well positioned at the forefront of this industry with many exciting opportunities on the horizon. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Blue Apron (APRN), which added another 7.7% to its post-earnings rally of the last several sessions after Northcoast analyst Charles Cerankosky upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell. Also higher after reporting quarterly results were MuleSoft (MULE) and DDR Corp. (DDR), which gained a respective 17.9% and 4.5%. Among the notable losers was Pacira (PCRX), which fell 16.5% after an FDA advisory panel voted against recommending a nerve block indication for its Exparel product. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Arista Networks (ANET) and Cohu (COHU), which fell a respective 19% and 15.7%. INDEXES: The Dow rose 19.01, or 0.075%, to 25,219.38, the Nasdaq lost 16.96, or 0.23%, to 7,239.47, and the S&P 500 advanced 1.02, or 0.037%, to 2,732.22.