Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Walmart Eyes Indian Market With $16 Billion Investment In Flipkart

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.12 percent to 24,389.31 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.20 percent to 7,281.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.32 percent to 2,680.37.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the energy shares rose 2.24 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included EP Energy Corporation EPE, up 15 percent, and Penn Virginia Corporation PVAC up 18 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, telecommunication services shares fell 0.36 percent.

Top Headline

Walmart Inc WMT disclosed that it reached an agreement to acquire 77 percent of India-based Flipkart for $16 billion. The Indian company recorded gross merchandise value of $7.6 billion and net sales of $4.6 billion in its recent fiscal year ended March 31.

The e-commerce giant cautioned the deal would result in a negative impact to its EPS of 25 to 30 cents in fiscal 2019 and a headwind of 60 cents per share in fiscal 2020.

Equities Trading UP

Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. LTRPA shares shot up 31 percent to $12.10 following TripAdvisor Q1 earnings beat.

Shares of ZAGG Inc ZAGG got a boost, shooting up 34 percent to $15.3628 after the company posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings.

Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. MLNT shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $8.125 after reporting Q1 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Extreme Networks, Inc. EXTR shares dropped 22 percent to $9.15 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter and issued weak Q4 guidance.

Shares of Caesarstone Ltd. CSTE were down 23 percent to $14.15 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results and lowered its FY18 sales forecast.

CEVA, Inc. CEVA was down, falling around 12 percent to $30.25 after the company posted weaker-than-expected Q1 profit.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.43 percent to $70.74 while gold traded down 0.09 percent to $1,312.50.

Silver traded up 0.17 percent Wednesday to $16.50, while copper fell 0.10 to $3.056.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.11 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.85 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.04 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.10 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.48 percent.

Economics

The Producer Price Index rose 0.1 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent gain.

U.S. wholesale trade inventories rose 0.3 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.6 percent rise.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 1:15 p.m. ET.