Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Deere Projects Drop In Equipment Sales

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.07 percent to 17,801.78 while the NASDAQ gained 0.15 percent to 4,765.25. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01 percent to 2,067.27.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.24 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais CIG, up 2.6 percent, and Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo SBS, up 1.3 percent.

Energy sector was the top decliner in the US market on Wednesday. Top losers in the sector included SeaDrill SDRL, Diamond Offshore Drilling DO, and Transocean RIG.

Top Headline

Deere & Co DE reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results. However, the company expected a drop in equipment sales.

The Moline, Illinois-based company reported quarterly earnings of $649.2 million, or $1.83 per share, compared to $806.8 million, or $2.11 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Its revenue declined 5 percent to $8.97 billion, while equipment sales slipped 7 percent. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.57 per share on revenue of $7.68 billion.

Equities Trading Up

Infoblox BLOX shares shot up 6.57 percent to $18.00 after the company reported upbeat financial results for its first fiscal quarter.

Shares of Veeva Systems VEEV got a boost, shooting up 6.05 percent to $30.58 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and issued a strong Q4 forecast.

DreamWorks Animation SKG DWA shares were also up, gaining 4.51 percent to $24.15. Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded Dreamworks from Equal-weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $22 to $27.

Equities Trading Down

Shares of SeaDrill SDRL were down 17.72 percent to $17.04 on weak earnings and suspension of dividend.

Ctrip.com International CTRP shares tumbled 9.08 percent to $53.15 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings, but issued a weak Q4 revenue forecast. Brean Capital lowered the price target on the stock from $74.00 to $64.00.

21Vianet Group VNET was down, falling 7.39 percent to $19.23 after the company reported Q3 earnings of $0.04 per ADS on revenue of $126.80 million. Canaccord Genuity downgraded 21Vianet from Buy to Hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.40 percent to $73.79, while gold traded up 0.02 percent to $1,198.00.

Silver traded up 0.17 percent Wednesday to $16.64, while copper fell 0.54 percent to $2.96.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.01 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.45 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.45 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.29 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.21 percent while UK shares rose 0.04 percent.

Economics

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity fell 4.30 percent in the week ended November 21, 2014.

US consumer spending rose 0.20 percent in October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.40 percent growth.

Initial jobless claims rose 21,000 to 313,000 in the week ended November 22. However, economists were projecting claims to reach 287,000 in the week.

U.S. durable goods orders gained 0.40 percent in October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.60 percent decline.

The Chicago PMI fell to 60.80 in November, versus a prior reading of 66.20. However, economists were expecting a reading of 63.10.

The final reading of Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index slipped to 88.80 in November, versus a prior reading of 89.40. However, economists were expecting a reading of 90.00.

Sales of new homes rose 0.7% to an annual rate of 458,000 in October. However, economists were estimating a rate of 471,000.

The pending home sales index declined 1.1 percent to 104.1 in October, from 105.3 in September.

Data on farm prices for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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