Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Charles Schwab Earnings Top Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.21 percent to 22,918.90 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.35 percent to 6,628.83. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17 percent to 2,557.63.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the energy shares surged 0.66 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Frontline Ltd. FRO, up 5 percent, and Oasis Petroleum Inc. OAS, up 4 percent.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 0.44 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included PG&E Corporation PCG, down 5 percent, and South Jersey Industries Inc SJI down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Charles Schwab Corp SCHW posted better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Charles Schwab posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $2.17 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $0.41 per share on revenue of $2.18 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Leading Brands, Inc (USA) LBIX shares shot up 41 percent to $3.20 after climbing 68.15 percent on Friday. Leading Brands reported a Q2 loss of $0.25 per share on revenue of $509,000.

Shares of Exelixis, Inc. EXEL got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $31.60 after the company announced an encouraging update for its CABOMETYX (cabozantinib) therapy for the treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aratana Therapeutics Inc PETX shares were also up, gaining 6 percent to $6.59 after the company announced plans to launch ENTYCE in the United States.

Equities Trading DOWN

Natural Health Trends Corp. NHTC shares dropped 17 percent to $20.58. Natural Health Trends reported Q3 preliminary sales of $40.1 million, versus $70.7 million in prior year quarter.

Shares of TG Therapeutics Inc TGTX were down 11 percent to $9.82. The FDA stated that GENUINE 3 results will cause an issue for getting an accelerated approval.

Sears Holdings Corp SHLD was down, falling around 9 percent to $6.15 after the company disclosed that Bruce Berkowitz decided to step down from the Sears board.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.44 percent to $52.19 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,307.60.

Silver traded up 0.31 percent Monday to $17.465, while copper rose 2.86 percent to $3.223.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.01 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.65 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.24 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.16 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.19 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.09 percent.

Economics

The Empire State manufacturing index rose to 30.20 in October, versus September reading of 24.40. Economists expected a reading of 20.70.

The Treasury will auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Minneapolis at 9:00 p.m. ET.