Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; MasterCard Earnings Beat Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.40 percent to 17,042.32 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.55 percent to 4,524.19. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.25 percent to 1,977.33.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares jumped by 0.88 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included Companhia Paranaense de Energia ELP, up 2.7 percent, and Huaneng Power International HNP, up 3.4 percent.

In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1 percent. Top losers in the sector included Intrepid Potash IPI, down 11.4 percent, and Yamana Gold AUY, off 9.3 percent.

Top Headline

MasterCard MA reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter.

The Purchase, New York-based company reported a quarterly profit of $1.02 billion, or $0.87 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $879 million, or $0.73 per share.

Its revenue climbed 13% to $2.5 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.78 per share on revenue of $2.45 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Alcatel-Lucent ALU shares shot up 12.50 percent to $2.88 after the company reported a narrower quarterly loss.

Shares of Grand Canyon Education LOPE got a boost, shooting up 11.64 percent to $48.25 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings. The company announced that it will engage a financial advisor and will explore options including conversion to a nonprofit entity.

Visa V shares were also up, gaining 7.52 percent to $230.80 after the company reported upbeat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and unveiled a new $5 billion share buyback.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of PAREXEL International PRXL were down 13.92 percent to $54.71 on Q1 results. Baird downgraded PAREXEL from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $72.00 to $63.00.

Terex TEX shares tumbled 11.05 percent to $27.20 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q3 earnings.

Accuray ARAY was down, falling 14.76 percent to $6.18 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.52 percent to $80.95, while gold traded down 1.84 percent to $1,202.40.

Silver traded down 4.05 percent Thursday to $16.57, while copper fell 1.93 percent to $3.04.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.84 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.56 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.63 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.05 percent while UK shares dropped 0.30 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 to 287,000 in the week ended October 25. However, economists were estimating claims to reach 281,000 in the week.

The US economy rose at an annual pace of 3.5% in the third quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 3% growth.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills. The Treasury will also auction 7-year notes.

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