Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Brinker Profit Misses Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.25 percent to 16,483.61 while the NASDAQ surged 0.41 percent to 4,372.93. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.29 percent to 1,925.74.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares surged around 0.87 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Wisconsin Energy WEC, up 2.4 percent, and Regency Energy Partners LP NYSE: (RGP), up 2.1 percent.
In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.36 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Thoratec THOR, down 27.5 percent, and PhotoMedex PHMD, off 16.8 percent.

Top Headline
Brinker International EAT reported a drop in its fourth-quarter profit.
The Dallas, Texas-based company posted a quarterly profit of $28.8 million, or $0.43 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $46.4 million, or $0.64 per share. Excluding items, its earnings climbed 10.4% to $0.85 per share from $0.77 per share.
Its total revenue gained 3.9% to $758.7 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.86 per share on revenue of $749.7 million.
Equities Trading UP
Lehigh Gas Partners LP LGP shares shot up 26.30 percent to $32.81 after CST Brands CST announced its plans to acquire Lehigh Gas GP LLC, the general partner of Lehigh Gas Partners LP. Lehigh Gas Partners also reported its financial results for the second quarter.
Shares of Twenty-First Century Fox FOXA got a boost, shooting up 7.33 percent to $34.70 after the company reported upbeat fourth-quarter results. Cowen & Company upgraded 21st Century Fox from Underperform to Market Perform and raised the price target from $29.00 to $35.00.
Stratasys SSYS shares were also up, gaining 15.18 percent to $113.92 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and lifted its forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Thoratec THOR were down 26.93 percent to $23.80 after the company reported downbeat second-quarter sales and issued a disappointing 2014 earnings outlook.
Atmel ATML shares tumbled 8.02 percent to $7.91 after the company reported in-line Q2 earnings. Bank of America downgraded Atmel from Buy to Neutral.
Melco Crown Entertainment MPEL was down, falling 3.25 percent to $29.04 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.06 percent to $96.98, while gold traded down 0.19 percent to $1,305.70.
Silver traded down 0.34 percent Thursday to $19.96, while copper rose 0.22 percent to $3.17.

Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.03 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.71 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 0.12 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.01 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.30 percent while UK shares dipped 0.01 percent.

Economics
US initial jobless claims declined 14,000 to 289,000 in the week ended August 2. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 304,000 in the week.
The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.
Data on consumer credit for June will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.