Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Constellation Brands Earnings Beat Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.13 percent to 22,691.74 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.29 percent to 6,553.84. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.21 percent to 2,543.02.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares surged 0.71 percent.

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell 0.29 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included MediciNova, Inc. MNOV, down 11 percent, and NewLink Genetics Corp NLNK down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ posted upbeat Q2 results and raised its FY18 outlook.

Constellation Brands reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $2.47 per share on sales of $2.085 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $2.17 per share on sales of $2.06 billion.

The company now expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $8.25 to $8.40 per share, versus prior forecast of $7.90 to $8.10 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Onvia, Inc. ONVI shares shot up 99 percent to $8.98 after the company agreed to be purchased by Deltek for $9 per share.

Shares of Cerus Corporation CERS got a boost, shooting up 8 percent to $3.03 after the company reported first Biologics License Application approval for U.S. Blood Center customer with the INTERCEPT Blood System.

Manitowoc Company Inc MTW shares were also up, gaining 6 percent to $9.60 following CNBC mention.

Equities Trading DOWN

Intellicheck Inc IDN shares dropped 21 percent to $2.27. Intellicheck named Bill White as Interim President and CEO amid departure of William Roof

Shares of Navient Corp NAVI were down 11 percent to $13.10 after the company announced plans to buy Earnest for $155 million in cash. Compass Point downgraded Navient from Buy to Neutral.

Vericel Corp VCEL was down, falling around 18 percent to $4.93 as the company issued a general business update at the 2017 Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa. Vericel reported plans for further expansion of MACI sales force in 2018.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.16 percent to $50.06 while gold traded up 0.29 percent to $1,280.50.

Silver traded up 0.70 percent Thursday to $16.74, while copper rose 1.81 percent to $3.0125.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.05 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.49 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.06 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.12 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.06 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.35 percent.

Economics

The U.S. trade deficit declined 2.7 percent to $42.4 billion in August, versus $43.6 billion in July. However, economists were expecting a deficit of $42.6 billion. Imports dropped 0.1 percent to $237.7 billion in August, while exports gained 0.4 percent to $195.3 billion.

U.S. initial jobless claims declined 12,000 to 260,000 for the latest week. Economists projected claims to reach 265,000 last week.

U.S. factory orders rose 1.2 percent for August, versus economists’ expectations for a 1 percent growth.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George will speak in Austin at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.