Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Kroger Earnings Beat Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.54 percent to 24,069.76 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.37 percent to 6,851.12. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.47 percent to 2,638.45.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Halcon Resources Corp HK and Bill Barrett Corporation BBG.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.16 percent.

Top Headline

Kroger Co TIF posted better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Kroger posted quarterly earnings of $0.44 per share on revenue of $27.75 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.40 per share on revenue of $27.46 billion. Its comparable store sales rose 1.1 percent during the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Titan Machinery Inc. TITN shares shot up 16 percent to $19.46 after the company reported Q3 results.

Shares of Tilly's Inc TLYS got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $15.25 after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter on Wednesday.

Michaels Companies Inc MIK shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $21.34 after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Myomo Inc MYO shares dropped 26 percent to $2.15 as the company reported the pricing of its public offering.

Shares of Barnes & Noble, Inc. BKS were down 10 percent to $7.00 after the company posted a wider-than-expected Q2 loss.

Seven Stars Cloud Group Inc SSC was down, falling around 8 percent to $2.55.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.87 percent to $57.80 while gold traded down 0.18 percent to $1,283.90.

Silver traded down 0.19 percent Thursday to $16.53, while copper rose 0.49 percent to $3.0835.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.33 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.16 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.76 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.53 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.23 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.15 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims declined 2,000 to 238,000 in the latest week. However, economists projected claims to total 240,000 last week.

U.S. consumer spending rose 0.3 percent for October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth. Personal income gained 0.4 percent, versus estimates for a 0.3 percent gain.

The Chicago PMI declined to 63.90 for November, versus prior reading of 66.20. Economists expected a reading of 63.00.

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

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Dallas at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on farm prices for October will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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