Weekly Market Wrap: September 14, 2012
Friday, September 14, 4:34 PM ET

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Hi. I'm Sayoko Murase. Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for September 14, 2012.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 were higher for the week.

Crude oil futures are higher this week, trading around $98.95 per barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures are higher this week, trading at $1770.95 an ounce in afternoon trading.

In notable economic news this week, Labor Department data showed that US employers added 96,000 jobs in August, missing initial estimates of 125,000.

In corporate news this week, Kroger (NYSE:KR) announced that it earned 51 cents per share in the second quarter, beating expectations. Net earnings were down slightly, to $279.1 million versus $280.8 million for the same quarter last year, which the company attributed to paying higher taxes.

Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) announced that it was narrowing its revenue forecasting, and increased the low end of its earnings guidance. The company expects revenue of $3.27 billio to $3.41 billion in the third-quarter, versus the prior range of $3.21 billion to $3.47 billion. The company is forecasting 38 cents to 42 cents per share, versus its prior forecast of 34 cents to 42 cents. Analysts were expecting earnings of 38 cents per share and revenue of $3.34 billion.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced the new version of its blockbuster smartphone, the iPhone 5. Shares hit an all time high following the announcement.

Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR) announced that second quarter earnings climbed by 58% due to strong sales growth, as well as a tax benefit. The company reported a profit of $26.2 million, or 24 cents a share, versus $16.6 million, or 14 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenue increased by 8.3% to $368 million. The company raised full-year earnings guidance from $1.10 to $1.16 from between $1.08 and $1.14.

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) announced that it will sell oil and natural-gas assets for $6.9 billion to narrow a cash-flow shortfall which threatens to put a damper on the company's drilling and production goals. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and EnerVest will buy oil and gas fields in the Permian Basin for $3.3 billion, while Global Infrastructure Partners will acquire most of the company's pipeline and processing assets for $2.7 billion. Chesapeake has sold or agreed to sell $11.6 billion of assets this year in order to reach a goal of $13 billion to $14 billion.

This is the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday September 14, 2012. Please join us on Monday for the 'Week Ahead Market Report."