Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Delta Air Lines Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.24 percent to 24,489.04 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.19 percent to 7,153.21. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.01 percent to 2,668.77.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the financial shares climbed 1.63 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Jianpu Technology Inc. JT, up 7 percent, and Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. WDR, up 5 percent.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.69 percent.

Top Headline

Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL reported better-than-expected profit for its first quarter.

The company said it earned 74 cents per share in the first quarter on revenue of $9.968 billion versus expectations of 73 cents per share on revenue of $9.84 billion. The company did guide its second quarter EPS to be in a range of $1.80 to $2.00 versus expectations of $1.95 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Northern Technologies International Corporation NTIC shares shot up 16 percent to $25.8493 after the company reported Q2 results and raised its FY18 outlook.

Shares of QuinStreet, Inc. QNST got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $12.0766 after the company reported preliminary Q3 sales results ahead of estimates. Sales are expected to come in at $115 million, beating estimates by $23 million.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. CBI shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $15.27 after the company reported preliminary results for its first quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY shares dropped 19 percent to $17.47. Bed Bath & Beyond reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak FY18 guidance. Comps were down 0.4 percent in the quarter.

Shares of Novavax, Inc. NVAX were down 15 percent to $1.77. Novavax priced its 30.3 million share public offering of common stock at $1.65 per share.

Argan, Inc. AGX was down, falling around 11 percent to $38.28 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.49 percent to $66.49 while gold traded down 0.89 percent to $1,347.90.

Silver traded down 1.21 percent Thursday to $16.565, while copper fell 2.17 percent to $3.0495.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.11 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.79 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.57 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.23 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims slipped 9,000 to 233,000 in the first week of April. Economists were expecting claims to reach 230,000.

U.S. import price index was flat for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 3.8 percent rise. Export prices increased 0.3 percent in March.

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

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Minneapolis at 5:00 p.m. ET.