WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Mitt Romney is on track for a big win in Nevada's Republican presidential caucuses on Saturday, early results showed. With most caucuses completed across the state, reports showed Romney beating chief rival Newt Gingrich by as many as 25 percentage points. Final results from the Silver State will be in after 10 p.m. Eastern, following a special caucus for observant Jews and others.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Micron Technology Inc. said late Friday that President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Durcan will assume the responsibilies of chief executive officer until the board appoints a successor. Earlier Friday, Chairman and CEO Steve Appleton, 51, was killed after the small plane he was piloting crashed in Boise, Idaho. Micron said the board will convene a meeting over the weekend. Shares of Micron, which had been halted during the regular trading session, fell 5.7% to $7.50 in after-hours activity.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. equity markets finished the day with across-the-board gains Friday on their highest volume session in more than a month. Composite volume of shares listed on the NYSE was 4.56 billion shares traded, compared with the average year-to-date daily volume of 3.96 billion shares. Nasdaq composite volume was 2.14 billion shares traded, compared with the year-to-date daily average of 1.83 billion shares. Friday's composite volumes for the NYSE- and Nasdaq-listed shares were both the highest since Dec. 16, 2011. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%, the S&P 500 Index advanced 1.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.6%.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Aeropostale Inc. said late Friday that its board appointed Karin Hirtler-Garvey to succeed Chairman Julian Geiger, who is resigning the post and his seat on the board. Hirtler-Garvey, who has served on Aeropostale's board since 2005, is the chief risk executive for Ally Financial Inc., formerly known as GMAC.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks jumped Friday after a surprisingly strong jobs report enlivened hopes that the economic recovery was picking up speed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 156.82 points, or 1.2%, to 12,862.23, its highest close since May 2008. The S&P 500 gained 19.36 points, or 1.5%, to 1,344.90. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 45.98 points, or 1.6%, to 2,905.66, its highest close since Dec. 2000. For the week, the Dow gained 1.6%. The S&P 500 rose 2.2% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 3.2%, the fifth straight week of gains for both indexes.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures closed higher Friday, marking an end to a five-session decline, with a gain in U.S. jobs last month lifting prospects for demand, but prices still ended the week 1.7% lower. March crude rose $1.48, or 1.5%, to settle at $97.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had lost 3.3% over the past five sessions. "Traders were over-reactive this morning to signals of what should ultimately lead to healthier demand," said Seth Rabinowitz, who covers commodities as a partner at Silicon Associates. And "zig-zagging crude prices are an indication traders on the whole are really uncertain about the overall direction of oil, torn among forecasts of higher U.S. demand butting heads with [a] strengthening and then weakening U.S. dollar."

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Micron Technology on Friday said Steve Appleton, the company's chief executive and chairman, died Friday morning in a small-plane crash in Boise, Idaho. Appleton was 51. Trading in Micron shares was halted at last check.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell $19 an ounce Friday to log their first decline in four sessions, as positive U.S. economic data lured investors away the precious metal market and into stocks. Gold for April delivery settled at $1,740.30 an ounce, down 1.1% on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, gold futures gained 0.5%. "Fundamentally, the market is being hit by the bullish January nonfarm payroll and unemployment numbers," said Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at Telvent DTN. "Technically, the April contract is sharply overbought according to daily stochastics and due for a setback." The contract gained nearly $25 an ounce in the last three trading sessions.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The NFL will feature five additional Thursday night games starting next season, the league said Friday. On its cable-television channel, NFL Network, there will be 13 Thursday games, while NBC will telecast a game on Thanksgiving night. With the expansion of the "Thursday Night Football" schedule, all 32 NFL teams will now play at least one primetime game in 2012. In addition, every club will play on one Thursday following a Sunday game. "Adding these games to the NFL Network schedule will give more players, teams, and cities the primetime stage," Commissioner Roger Goodell commented in a statement.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The state of New York is suing Bank of America Corp. , Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. , claiming that they made fradulent use of an electronic mortgage database, according to published reports Friday. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the database, known as the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), has been used so that banks can "evade county recording fees [and] avoid the need to publicly record mortgage transfers," thereby making it easier to sell mortgages in large numbers, Reuters reported. The suit comes at a time when many Americans are in foreclosure or under the threat of such an action, due to the weakened economy.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Trucking firm Con-Way Inc. was down 7.3% after it reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of most Wall Street estimates. The company said adjusted earnings in the period came to 26 cents a share on revenue of $1.32 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a profit of 36 cents on $1.31 billion in revenue.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Susan G. Komen For the Cure said Friday it has reconsidered its plan to cut funding to Planned Parenthood after the considerable backlash it touched off with that decision earlier this week. The organization, a leading advocate for breast cancer research, released a statement from Komen President Nancy Brinker. "We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not," Brinker explained. "Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation ... We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants."

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - President Barack Obama on Friday said the January jobs data confirmed that the economy was growing stronger and said Congress should not do anything to "muck it up." "The recovery is speeding up and we have got to do everything in our power to keep it going," Obama said in a speech in suburban Washington D.C. Obama said Congress should pass an extension of the payroll tax cuts by the end of February "without drama and without delay." "Now is not the time for self-inflicted wounds," he said. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January and private-sector payrolls increased by 257,000. Obama said this was more good news about the economy. Obama was cautious about the outlook. "These numbers will go up and down in coming months, and there are still far too many Americans that need a job," he said.

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Most media and entertainment shares were higher Friday morning in step with a broader market cheered by a better-than-expected jobs report. The Dow Jones U.S. Broadcasting and Entertainment Total Stock Market Index was up 1.7% at 4,207.11. The benchmark is up 1.9% this week and 9% so far in 2012, as investors have been generally optimistic about the advertising market. Walt Disney Co. was up 2.2%; Time Warner Inc. was up 2%; Comcast Corp. rose 1.1%; Sony Corp.'s U.S.-listed shares were up 12%, while the Tokyo issue rose 8% on news of a new chief executive, despite a worse-than-expected fiscal-year outlook.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Canadian stocks rose Friday shaking off weak jobs data with gains in the non-gold mining and industrial sectors. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3% with the S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals and Mining Index up 2% and the S&P/TSX Capped Industrials Index up 1.4%. Shares of Teck Resources Ltd. rose 2.2% and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. [s ca:ivn] shares rose 3.1%. Shares of Canadian National Railway Co. rose 1.4% and Canada Pacific Railway Ltd. shares advanced 2.2%. Gold mining shares, however, took a downturn as gold prices fell 0.7%. Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. dropped 1.7% and Goldcorp Inc. shares shed 1.6%. Earlier in the day, Canada reported that its unemployment rate hit a nine-month high of 7.6% while adding fewer than expected jobs in January.

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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Mexican stocks climbed Friday following a stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report from the United States, Mexico's largest trading partner. Mexico's IPC recently rose 0.9% to 38,042, with shares of market heavyweight America Movil up 1.2% and Cemex higher by 3.6%. The U.S. is a key market for the cement and ready-mix concrete provider. The IPC is on track for a weekly advance of 2.2%. Mexico's currency also rose following the report that the U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate slipped to 8.3%. The peso traded at 12.718 per U.S. dollar, compared with 12.809 in the previous session.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tyson Foods shares shot up 6% to $19.74 Friday morning, landing it among the top S&P 500 percentage gainers. Tyson's fiscal first-quarter earnings didn't slide as much as analysts had feared. Profit was 42 cents vs. the 34 cents analysts had forecast. Tyson further signaled its beef segment -- a chief area of investor concern -- will remain profitable throughout fiscal 2012 despite shrinking cattle supplies. Fewer animals has made its tougher for Tyson to pass along higher feed grain costs and pressured its beef operating margin, which fell to 0.9% from 3.6% in the same 2010 period. Friday's report is helping to alleviate pressure on Tyson shares, which had faced a sell off to start the year. The stock is still down 4% since Jan. 1.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Gilead Sciences gained on Friday after it reported a healthy rise in quarterly earnings. The biopharmaceutical company late Thursday said its fourth-quarter profit increased to $665.1 million, or 87 cents a share, from $629.4 million, or 76 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 10% to $2.2 billion. Shares of Gilead advanced 9% to $53.73 in latest action, one of the best performers on the Nasdaq Composite Index .

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Estee Lauder Cos. shares slumped as much as 6% at the open Friday after the beauty products company warned its results for the current quarter are likely to be saddled with higher advertising costs. The comments were included in the company's fiscal second-quarter results, released before the opening bell. Citing strong holiday sales, Estee Lauder said its second-quarter profit jumped 15% to $1 a share. But it also said it expects to earn only 28 cents to 32 cents a share in the current quarter, well below the 41 cents a share analysts were looking for. Estee Lauder shares were down 5.6% at last glance at $55.55. They are up 20% from where they were trading 12 months ago.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Institute for Supply Management said its services index in January reached 56.8% -- the highest reading since February -- up from 53.0% in December. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 53.5% reading. The new orders index jumped 4.8 points, and the employment index rocketed 7.6 points to 57.4%. Readings over 50% indicate expansion.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Factory orders rose 1.1% in December, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 1.4% rise. But the report was bolstered by an upward revision to November, where orders were revised to a 2.2% increase from an initially reported 1.8% rise. In December, shipments rose 0.7%, the biggest gain since July and the seventh consecutive monthly increase. Unfilled orders rose 1.4% in December, the largest gain since March 2008. Inventories increased a slim 0.1%. Durable goods rose 3.0% in December, unrevised from the initial estimate last week. Nondurable goods orders fell 0.4% in the month. Orders for capital goods excluding aircraft and defense, so-called "core" capital equipment, rose 3.1% in December, and were up 10% in the past year. Shipments of core capital equipment, a key component of investment in the gross domestic product calculations, rose 3.1% in December, and were up 9.1% compared with a year earlier. There are already signs that the strength in the factory sector is continuing into 2012. The Institute for Supply Management reported earlier this week that its gauge of manufacturing activity expanded to 54.1 in January, the fastest pace in seven months.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Investors bid up U.S. financial stocks at the open Friday as the stock market surged on better-than-expected U.S. jobs data. The Financial Select SPDR ETF , which tracks financial companies in the S&P 500 , gained 2% to $14.63. Insurer Genworth shot up 15% to $9.28 after its latest quarterly results. Bank of America , BB&T and Comerica all gained 3%. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs rose 2%. Another top gainer was broker Charles Schwab . Its shares advanced 4%.

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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos may quit if the three parties that support his government don't back a new financing plan, Greece's Skai TV reported Friday on its website, without citing sources, according to Bloomberg. Papademos is expected to meet with PASOK's George Papandreou, New Democracy's Antonis Samaras, and Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) leader Giorgos Karatzaferis on Saturday, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported. Papademos is attempting to wrap up long-running talks with private creditors over a voluntary writedown of privately-held Greek debt, while also attempting to finalize details of a related, 130 billion euro ($170.9 billion) second bailout package from the International Monetary Fund and European Union.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures headed lower for the first time in four sessions and crude oil futures edged higher Friday after the U.S. Labor Department reported a bigger-than-expected increase in the number jobs in January. The nation gained 243,000 jobs last month, more than the 121,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Gold for April delivery lost $10.50, or 0.6%, at $1,748.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange as the upbeat data dulled safe-haven demand for the precious metal. Gold prices were poised to end a three-session climb. March crude oil traded at $97.03 a barrel on Nymex, up 67 cents, or 0.7%, after losing 1.3% in the previous session as the jobs data raised the prospects for oil demand.

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks rose Friday, as the sector joined in a broad-market rally fueled by reaction to a drop in the U.S. unemployment rate. Zynga Inc. was among the advancers, as its shares rose 9% to $13.52 and built upon the previous day's gains. Other notable gains came from Infinera Corp. , up more than 16%, and video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. , which climbed more than 5%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose more than 28 points to 2,888.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks leapt on Friday as Wall Street embraced employment rising more than expected last month and the jobless rate dropping to a three-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 106.07 points to 12,811.48. The S&P 500 Index rose 11.97 points to 1,337.64. The Nasdaq Composite added 27.81 points to 2,887.49.

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks moved up on Friday after a better-than-expected January U.S. employment report. Energy stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1%, on average. Among the group, National Oilwell Varco moved up 3.7%, Marathon Petroleum rose 2.7% and First Solar Inc. gained 2.2%.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Fed fund futures declined on Friday after the stronger-than-forecast jobs data, with the biggest moves focused on contracts that expire in 2013 and 2014. The market in effect sees the first rate hike from the Federal Reserve by the summer of 2014 compared to the Fed's guidance that the first hike won't come until the end of 2014 at the earliest. The higher the Fed funds future, the lower the implied interest rate. The effective Fed funds rate was 0.11% on Thursday.

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FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Euro-zone finance ministers canceled a meeting that had been tentatively set for Monday, according to an announcement released Friday on behalf of Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs meetings of euro group ministers. A meeting may be set later next week if warranted, the statement said. Dow Jones Newswires reported earlier Friday that the meeting, which was due to focus on Greece's second bailout, could be postponed to give negotiators representing private-sector bondholders and the Greek government more time to complete talks on write-downs on the value of privately-held Greek debt.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Institute for Supply Management's services sector gauge for January is due for release at 10 a.m., with economists polled by MarketWatch expecting an improved reading of 53.5% from 52.6% in December. Also due for release is December factory orders, which may show a 1.4% increase.

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