Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; Dollar General Posts Rise In Q2 Profit

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.10 percent to 14,849.01 while the NASDAQ surged 0.34 percent to 3,624.90. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.27 percent to 1,644.15. Top Headline
Dollar General DG reported a rise in its second-quarter profit. Dollar General's quarterly profit surged to $245.5 million, or $0.75 per share, from $214.1 million, or $0.64 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.77 per share. Its revenue climbed to $4.4 billion from $3.9 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.74 per share on revenue of $4.4 billion. Dollar General projects full-year earnings of $3.15 to $3.22 per share. Equities Trading UP
Ciena CIEN shot up 6.91 percent to $22.11 after the company reported upbeat FQ3 profit. Shares of Micron Technology MU got a boost, shooting up 6.92 percent to $14.98 following some bullish comments from Sterne Agee's Vijay Rakesh. Verint Systems VRNT was also up, gaining 9.20 percent to $36.07 on upbeat Q2 results. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Francesca's Holdings FRAN were down 22.73 percent to $18.56 after the company reported downbeat second-quarter results. SAIC SAI shares tumbled 6.60 percent to $14.15 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results and lowered its forecast for the year. Ryanair Holdings plc RYAAY was down, falling 14.39 percent to $41.83 after the company issued a full-year profit warning. UBS also downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.04 percent to $107.41, while gold traded down 1.36 percent to $1,392.80. Silver traded down 3.62 percent Wednesday to $23.55, while copper fell 2.24 percent to $3.23. Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.42 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 1.83 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.80 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 1.07 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.52 percent. Economics
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs store sales index dropped 0.6% in the week ended August 31 versus the earlier week. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its index of mortgage application activity increased 1.3% in the week ended August 30, versus a 2.5% drop in the earlier week. US trade deficit surged 13.3% to $39.1 billion in July. However, economists were expecting the deficit of $39.0 billion in July. Imports increased 1.6% to $228.6 billion, while exports declined 0.6% to $189.4 billion. The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.6% in the first four weeks of August from July. The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills. The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.