3M Surges On Upbeat Earnings; Yelp Shares Dip

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.50 percent to 16,708.54 while the NASDAQ surged 1.71 percent to 4,457.70. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.41 percent to 1,954.33.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Thursday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.10 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Flotek Industries FTK, up 11.1 percent, and EXCO Resources XCO, up 10 percent.

Telecommunications services shares fell by 0.01 percent on Thursday. Top losers in the sector included AT&T T, down 2.4 percent, and UTStarcom Holdings UTSI, off 1.3 percent.

Top Headline

General Motors Co GM reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter.

The Detroit, Michigan-based company posted quarterly net income of $1.38 billion, or $0.81 per share, compared to $698 million, or $0.45 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time costs, GM earned $0.97 per share.

Its revenue gained 2% to $39.25 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.95 per share on revenue of $39.8 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Brookfield Residential Properties BRP shares shot up 22.38 percent to $23.26 after Brookfield Asset Management BAM proposed to acquire around 30% of the company not currently owned for $23 per share.

Shares of Infinera INFN got a boost, shooting up 22.53 percent to $13.00on stronger-than-expected quarterly results.

3M Company MMM shares were also up, gaining 6.12 percent to $147.46 after the company reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of IPC The Hospitalist Company IPCM were down 17.11 percent to $38.99 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results and lowered its FY14 forecast.

Cabela's CAB shares tumbled 9.68 percent to $52.33after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q3 results and issued a downbeat FY14 outlook.

Yelp YELP was down, falling 16.82 percent to $58.42 after the company reported upbeat results for the third quarter, but issued a weak Q4 outlook.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.53 percent to $81.75, while gold traded down 1.46 percent to $1,227.30.

Silver traded down 0.62 percent Thursday to $17.13, while copper rose 0.65 percent to $3.04.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.62 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.87 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.87 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.11 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.22 percent while UK shares gained 0.22 percent.

Economics

US jobless claims increased by 17,000 to 283,000 in the week ended Oct. 18. However, economists were estimating claims to rise to 285,000 in the week.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to 0.47 in September, versus economists’ estimates of 0.15.

Home prices increased 0.5% in August, versus a 0.2% rise in July, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. US home prices gained 4.8% y/y in August.

The flash reading of Markit manufacturing PMI dropped fell to a reading of 56.2 in October, versus 57.5 in September.

The Conference Board's index of leading indicators increased 0.8% in September.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index fell to 4.00 in October, versus a prior reading of 6.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 6.00.

Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.