Mid-Morning Market Update: US Markets Mixed, Ford Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.23 percent to 15,531.61 while the NASDAQ surged 0.22 percent to 3,587.01. The S&P also fell, declining 0.13 percent to 1,690.28.

Ford Motor Co

reported a rise in its second-quarter profit and lifted its view for the year. Ford's quarterly profit surged to $1.23 billion, or $0.30 per share, versus a profit of $1.04 billion, or $0.26 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, Ford earned $0.45 per share. Its revenue increased to $38.1 billion from $33.3 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $34.94 billion.

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Maidenform Brands

shot up 22.18 percent to $23.33 after the company agreed to be acquired by HanesBrands

for $23.50 per share in cash. Shares of EMC

got a boost, shooting up 6.75 percent to $27.04 on Q2 results. Apple

was also up, gaining 4.41 percent to $437.45 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

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Shares of Broadcom

were down 12.03 percent to $28.00 after the company issued weak revenue forecast for the third quarter. Polycom

was down, falling 10.62 percent to $9.99 after the company announced the resignation of its CEO. Analysts at RBC Capital also downgraded the stock from “sector perform” to “underperform.” Walter Energy

shares tumbled 9.23 percent to $12.79 after the company lowered its quarterly dividend to 1 cent per share from 12.5 cents per share. The company also reported that its credit facility has been amended.

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In commodity news, oil traded down 0.68 percent to $106.50, while gold traded up 0.13 percent to $1,337.00. Silver traded down 0.04 percent Wednesday to $20.25, while copper rose 0.25 percent to $3.21.

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European shares were higher on better-than-expected PMI data. Eurozone PMIs strongly beat expectations in both the manufacturing and services sectors. The flash reading of the manufacturing PMI rose to 50.1 for the first half of July from 48.8 in June, beating expectations of a reading of 49.1 while the services PMI rose to 49.6 from 48.3 on expectations of a reading of 48.7. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.98 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index gained 1.12 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.94 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.10 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.67 percent.

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The MBA's index of mortgage application activity dropped 1.2% in the week ended July 19. The US flash manufacturing PMI surged to a reading of 53.2 in July, versus 51.9 in June, Markit reported. US new home sales increased 8.3% to an annual rate of 497,000 in June. However, economists were expecting sales to rise to 483,000 in June. The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes.