Markets Open Lower; Halliburton Posts Rise In Profit

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.39 percent to 17,034.41 while the NASDAQ declined 0.31 percent to 4,418.30. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.30 percent to 1,972.21.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares fell by just 0.12 percent in Monday’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included Extreme Networks EXTR, up 12 percent, and Glu Mobile GLUU, up 9 percent.

In trading on Monday, telecommunications services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.43 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Mobile Telesystems OJSC MBT, down 3.9 percent, and America Movil S.A.B. de C.V. AMX, off 2.1 percent.

Top Headline

Halliburton HAL reported a gain in its second-quarter earnings.

The Houston, Texas-based company’s quarterly income from continuing operations rose to $776 million, or $0.91 per share, up from $642 million, or $0.69 per share in the year-ago period.

Its total revenue surged to $8.1 billion, from $7.3 billion. Its operating income surged to $1.2 billion from $984 million in the year-ago quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.91 per share on revenue of $7.88 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Steel Dynamics STLD shares shot up 6.94 percent to $19.87 after the company announced its plans to acquire Severstal Columbus LLC from OAO Severstal.

Shares of EMC EMC got a boost, shooting up 4.63 percent to $28.23. Elliott Management plans to spin-off EMC's VMware, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Halliburton Company HAL shares were also up, gaining 1.07 percent to $71.69 after the company reported upbeat Q2 revenue and raised its share repurchase program to $6 billion versus $5 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of EZCORP EZPW were down 9.26 percent to $10.09 after the company named CFO Mark Kuchenrither as interim CEO and President.

Six Flags Entertainment SIX shares tumbled 6.95 percent to $38.15 on downbeat Q2 revenue. The company posted a quarterly profit of $85.3 million, or $0.67 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $47.4 million, or $0.47 per share.

BB&T BBT was down, falling 3.86 percent to $37.40 after the company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.58 percent to $103.73, while gold traded up 0.26 percent to $1,314.40.

Silver traded up 0.50 percent Monday to $20.99, while copper rose 0.53 percent to $3.20.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.59 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.62 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 1.06 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 0.58 percent while UK shares fell 0.41 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to 0.12 in June versus 0.16 in May.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.