Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Surge; PriceSmart Posts Mixed Results

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 1.07 percent to 17,735.99 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.14 percent to 4,978.67. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.05 percent to 2,072.80.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Telecommunications services shares jumped by 2.24 percent on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (ADR) IIJI, up 7 percent, and Telefonica S.A. (ADR) TEF, up 6 percent.
In trading on Friday, utilities shares rose by just 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Cmrz Nrt SA(ADR) EDN, down 1 percent, and American Midstream Partners LP AMID, off 1 percent.

Top Headline
On Thursday, PriceSmart, Inc. PSMT reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter, but the company’s revenue exceeded analysts’ estimates.
Sales came in at $697.1 million, up 13.3 percent year-over-year, and above the Street’s consensus of $688.02 million. Earnings, however, came short of expectations, at $0.70 per share, versus the Street’s estimate of $0.74 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Digital Turbine Inc APPS shares shot up 14 percent to $2.94. Digital Turbine reported preliminary Q1 revenue of $18.6 million to $18.7 million, versus analysts’ estimates of $18.4 million.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc ICE shares were also up, gaining 2 percent to $229.74. Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $247 to $252.
Shares of Kingtone Wirelessinfo Solutions Hldg Ltd KONE got a boost, shooting up 45 percent to $6.35 after the company reported financial results for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and reaffirmed its FY 2015 revenue forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN
Barracuda Networks Inc CUDA shares tumbled 20 percent to $31.25. Barracuda Networks reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings.
Shares of Zillow Group Inc Z were down 6 percent to $80.54 after the company announced the resignation of its CFO Chad Cohen, effective Aug. 7, 2015.
Atara Biotherapeutics Inc ATRA was down, falling 3 percent to $51.92 after the company priced its 3.46 million share offering at $52.00 per share.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.25 percent to $52.65, while gold traded down 0.03 percent to $1,158.90.
Silver traded up 0.29 percent Friday to $15.41, while copper fell 0.90 percent to $2.53.

Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.91 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 3.04 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.45 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.59 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 3.15 percent while UK shares climbed 1.33 percent.

Economics
US wholesale inventories rose 0.80 percent in May, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.30 percent growth.