Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Carnival Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.35 percent to 24,348.30 while the NASDAQ declined 1.3 percent to 7,250.13. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.1 percent to 2,681.91.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the utilities shares gained 0.71 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PG&E Corporation PCG, up 3 percent, and Atlantic Power Corporation AT, up 2 percent.

In trading on Thursday, financial shares fell 1.56 percent.

Top Headline

Carnival Corporation CCL reported upbeat results for its first quarter and raised its FY18 earnings forecast.

Adjusted earnings came in at 52 cents per share, beating estimates of 43 cents per share. Sales came in at $4.2 billion, versus estimates of $4.11 billion.

Carnival now expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $4.20 to $4.40 per share, versus earlier forecast of $4 to $4.30 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Guess', Inc. GES shares shot up 25 percent to $19.38 as the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

Shares of Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. OMEX got a boost, shooting up 148 percent to $9.39 after the company disclosed that the Superior Court of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice in Mexico ruled unanimously in favor of Odyssey Marine Exploration's subsidiary ExO nullifying denial of application for phosphate sand extraction for Don Diego Project.

Soligenix, Inc. SNGX shares were also up, gaining 24 percent to $2.46 after the company disclosed that it has received orphan drug designation from the European Commission for RiVax.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Michaels Companies, Inc. MIK shares dropped 8 percent to $19.5134. Michaels posted in-line quarterly earnings, but issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Shares of AbbVie Inc. ABBV were down 12 percent to $98.96 after the company issued results from Phase 2 study of Rova-T in 3rd-line treatment of patients with DLL3-expressing relapsed/refractory SCLC and said it will not seek accelerated approval.

G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. GIII was down, falling around 7 percent to $34.92. G-III Apparel posted upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued weak guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.71 percent to $64.71 while gold traded up 0.63 percent to $1,335.60.

Silver traded up 0.46 percent Thursday to $16.495, while copper fell 0.29 percent to $3.0495.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.48 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.39 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.73 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 1.72 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 1.64 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.37 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims increased 3,000 to 229,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 225,000 in the week.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.8 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent growth.

The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI climbed to 55.7 in March, compared to previous reading of 55.3. The IHS Markit services PMI slipped to 54.1 in March from 55.9.

The Conference Board’s leading economic index increased 0.6 percent in February, versus a 0.8 percent rise in January.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for March is schedule for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.