Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; CarMax Tops Q2 Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.05 percent to 22,348.79 while the NASDAQ declined 0.04 percent to 6,419.90. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 2,500.29.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares surged 0.48 percent.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.26 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included SCANA Corporation SCG, down 2 percent, and TransAlta Corporation (USA) TAC down 2 percent.

Top Headline

CarMax, Inc KMX reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.

CarMax reported Q2 earnings of $0.98 per share on revenue of $4.39 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $0.95 per share on revenue of $4.25 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Ascendis Pharma A/S ASND shares shot up 39 percent to $38.52. Wedbush raised price target on Ascendis Pharma from $36 to $65 following Versartis data.

Shares of TDH Holdings Inc PETZ got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $7.750. TDH Holdings priced IPO at $4.25 per share.

StoneMor Partners L.P. STON shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $6.65. StoneMor Partners promoted two executives to key management positions. The company named Ken Lee as National Vice-President of Operations, and Gina Mack as Vice-President of Human Resources.

Equities Trading DOWN

Versartis Inc VSAR shares dropped 86 percent to $2.97 after the company disclosed that somavaratan did not meet primary endpoint in Phase 3 VELOCITY trial. Barclays downgraded Versartis from Overweight to Underweight, while Cowen & Co. downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

Shares of Revolution Lighting Technologies Inc RVLT were down 21 percent to $6.02 as the company lowered its FY2017 sales guidance.

Compass Minerals International, Inc. CMP was down, falling around 9 percent to $63.10 as the company lowered its FY17 earnings outlook.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.02 percent to $50.56 while gold traded up 0.29 percent to $1,298.60.

Silver traded down 0.11 percent Friday to $17.00, while copper rose 0.07 percent to $2.9365.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.02 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.17 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.11 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.28 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.61 percent.

Economics

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

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Oklahoma City at 1:30 p.m. ET.