Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; Wal-Mart Profit Beats Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.31 percent to 17,666.79 while the NASDAQ gained 0.46 percent to 4,696.43. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.25 percent to 2,043.40.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Cyclical consumer goods & services shares jumped by 0.81 percent on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included DreamWorks Animation SKG DWA, up 16 percent, and China XD Plastics Company CXDC, up 6.5 percent.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.63 percent. Top losers in the sector included North European Oil Royalty Trust NRT, down 4 percent, and SunPower SPWR, off 4.9 percent.

Top Headline

Wal-Mart Stores WMT reported upbeat results for the third quarter.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company posted quarterly net income of $3.71 billion, or $1.15 per share, versus $3.74 billion, or $1.14 per share, in the year-ago period.

Its sales climbed to $119 billion from $115.7 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.12 per share on revenue of $118.4 billion. Comparable sales at Walmart US increased 0.5%.

Equities Trading UP

DreamWorks Animation SKG DWA shares shot up 16.90 percent to $26.15 on the Deadline Hollywood report of possible acquisition by Hasbro HAS.

Shares of Rocket Fuel FUEL got a boost, shooting up 22.49 percent to $19.88 after beating third-quarter expectations and posting a fourth quarter outlook higher than the Wall Street consensus.

Cyber-Ark Software CYBR shares were also up, gaining 18.12 percent to $39.81 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and issued a strong Q4 outlook.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of SunPower SPWR were down 5.22 percent to $27.54 after the company issued FY15 guidance. For fiscal year 2015, the company expected net income per diluted share of $1.10 to $1.50 on non-GAAP revenue of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion.

J. C. Penney Company JCP shares tumbled 8.03 percent to $7.14 after the company reported a narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss, but its sales were slightly below the Wall Street consensus. The company also posted flat same-store sales in the quarter.

Texas Capital BancShares TCBI was down, falling 3.41 percent to $59.63 after the company priced 2.5 million common stock offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.20 percent to $76.25, while gold traded up 0.29 percent to $1,162.50.

Silver traded up 0.43 percent Thursday to $15.69, while copper fell 0.05 percent to $3.02.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.36 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.93 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.01 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.29 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.54 percent while UK shares dropped 0.19 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims increased 12,000 to 290,000 in the week ended November 8. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 280,000 in the week.

The U.S. Treasury monthly budget report for October will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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

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