Equities Mid-Day Stock Market Roundup: Good Friday Edition

U.S. stocks were…closed today as the major stock markets celebrated the Good Friday holiday. But the biggest news seems to be that Japanese automakers may not see as big of a supply shock as earlier expected. This caused a surge in Japanese auto stocks trading on the Nikkei index, as many investors had feared that the production halt caused from the March natural disasters would take longer to resolve. Elsewhere, after breaking through to the $1,500 level, gold prices continues to rise.

Major U.S. Stock Indices

DJIA: N/A
S&P 500: N/A
Nasdaq: N/A
Russell 2000: N/A

In other news:

• Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Samsung are lawyering up. The two phone makers are suing each other for patent infringement. There should be an app for that. [Bloomberg]
• Major League Baseball just “nationalized” the Los Angeles Dodgers-kind of. [LA Times]
• The European Union isn’t mad at Greece. They’re just disappointed, and well, OK, also really mad. [Marketwatch]
• The U.S. is now sending in drones to help Libyan rebels battle against Muammar Qaddafi’s forces. [NY Times]
• The big banks all released their Q1 earnings. Who were the “winners” and “losers” on Wall Street? [TheStreet]

Check back for more news.