Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Viacom Posts Downbeat Earnings

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 16,430.88 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.02 percent to 4,351.99. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04 percent to 1,919.37.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.59 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Parker Drilling Co PKD, Alpha Natural Resources ANR, and Resolute Energy REN.

Telecommunications services shares fell by 0.74 percent in Wednesday’s trading. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included RRSat Global Communications Network RRST, down 5.9 percent, and China Unicom (Hong Kong) CHU, off 4.6 percent.

Top Headline

Viacom VIAB reported weaker-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings.

The New York-based company posted quarterly earnings of $610 million, or $1.40 per share, versus $643 million, or $1.31 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings per share rose 10% to $1.42, missing analysts’ estimates of $1.44 per share.

Its revenue declined 7% to $3.42 billion from $3.693 billion, versus expectations of $3.56 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Criteo SA CRTO shares shot up 7.97 percent to $31.96 after the company reported record Q2 results and raised its full-year forecast.

Shares of Itron ITRI got a boost, shooting up 8.49 percent to $39.49 after the company reported Q2 earnings of $0.54 per share on revenue of $489.40 million.

Twenty-First Century Fox FOXA shares were also up, gaining 4.95 percent to $32.85 after the company announced Tuesday that it is withdrawing its bid for Time Warner TWX. Instead, the company’s board authorized a $6 billion share repurchase program.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Rocket Fuel FUEL were down 27.19 percent to $18.02 after the company reported a Q2 loss of $0.11 per share on revenue of $92.60 million. Rocket Fuel also announced the acquisition of [x+1] for $230 million.

Nu Skin Enterprises NUS shares tumbled 21.69 percent to $45.36 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results and issued a weak forecast.

Groupon GRPN was down, falling 18.09 percent to $5.79 after the company reported downbeat revenue for the second quarter and issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.42 percent to $97.79, while gold traded up 1.84 percent to $1,308.90.

Silver traded up 1.12 percent Wednesday to $20.06, while copper fell 1.11 percent to $3.17.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.16 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 1.39 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 2.37 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.04 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 1.02 percent while UK shares dipped 1.01 percent.

Economics

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity gained 1.6% in the week ended August 1.

The US trade deficit declined 7% to $41.5 billion in June, versus a slightly revised $44.7 billion in May. However, economists were expecting a deficit of $45 billion.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 10-year notes.