Mid-Day Market Update: Natural Grocers Climbs Following Strong Q4 Results; Chi-Med Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.02 percent to 25,293.95 while the NASDAQ declined 0.83 percent to 7,199.02. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21 percent to 2,724.50.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the utilities shares climbed 1.1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PG&E Corporation PCG up 35 percent, and Edison International EIX up 12 percent.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell 1.3 percent.

Top Headline

Viacom, Inc. VIAB reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Viacom posted Q3 earnings of $0.99 per share on revenue of $3.485 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.95 per share on sales of $3.37 billion.

Equities Trading UP

PG&E Corporation PCG shares shot up 35 percent to $24.030. The CPUC said it does not want bankruptcy for the company and Bank of America reportedly issued defensive comments saying the sell off and bankruptcy concerns are 'overdone.'

Shares of EMC Insurance Group Inc. EMCI got a boost, shooting up 30 percent to $31.23 after Employers Mutual Casualty Co. reported the purchase of all outstanding shares of EMC Insurance Group which EMCC does not already own, at $30 per share.

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. NGVC shares were also up, gaining 24 percent to $20.58 after the company beat Q4 EPS and revenue estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Limbach Holdings, Inc. LMB shares dropped 29 percent to $5.8899 after the company updated its full-year 2018 forecast.

Shares of Hutchison China MediTech Limited HCM were down 21 percent to $28.79 after the company disclosed that Phase III FALUCA trial results for fruquintinib in third-line, advanced non-small cell lung cancer in China did not meet primary endpoint.

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA was down, falling around 18 percent to $165.03 after the company reported downbeat revenue for its third quarter and issued weak fourth-quarter guidance. Nvidia also raised its quarterly dividend from 15 cents a share to 16 cents and announced a $7-billion buyback.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.85 percent to $56.94 while gold traded up 0.53 percent to $1,221.40.

Silver traded up 0.43 percent Friday to $14.325, while copper rose 0.38 percent to $2.7735.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.20 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.18 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.14 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.11 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.17 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.34 percent.

Economics

U.S. industrial production rose 0.1 percent for October, versus economists’ expectations for a0.2 percent gain.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Treasury International Capital report for September will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.