Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Walgreens Profit Tops Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.19 percent to 25,553.31 while the NASDAQ gained 0.08 percent to 7,427.78. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.32 percent to 2,776.86.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the materials shares rose 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited HMY up 10 percent, and Sibanye Gold Limited SBGL up 8 percent.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 1.16 percent.

Top Headline

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. WBA reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates.

Walgreens posted quarterly earnings of $1.48 per share on revenue of $33.44 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.45 per share on sales of $33.78 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Murphy Oil Corporation MUR shares shot up 12 percent to $35.70 after the company reported formation of a joint venture with Petrobras' Petrobras America.

Shares of Green Plains Inc. GPRE got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $18.01 after the company agreed to sell 3 ethanol plants to Valero Renewable Fuels for $300 million in cash plus $28 million of working capital.

L Brands, Inc. LB shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $31.86 after the company disclosed that it is pursuing alternatives for its La Senza business.

Equities Trading DOWN

Atomera Incorporated ATOM shares dropped 21 percent to $4.667. Atomera priced 2.625 million shares of common stock at $4.75 per share.

Shares of Fluor Corporation FLR were down 15 percent to $47.78 after the company issued preliminary third-quarter sales figures of $4.6 billion, $350 million below consensus estimates. The company expects third-quarter pre-tax earnings of $125 million.

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. FSM was down, falling around 11 percent to $3.79 after reporting Q3 production results from its two operating mines.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.89 percent to $71.79 while gold traded up 1.4 percent to $1,210.10.

Silver traded up 0.87 percent Thursday to $14.45, while copper fell 0.81 to $2.758.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.25 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.77 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.88 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.69 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.19 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.26 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.1 percent for September, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent rise.

Initial jobless claims rose 7,000 to 214,000 in the latest week. However, economists projected a reading of 206,000.

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

The EIA’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for September is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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