Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Morgan Stanley Beats Q2 Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.06 percent to 18,075.52 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.05 percent to 5,213.00. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.09 percent to 2,124.72.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Exelixis, Inc. EXEL and Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc ANTH.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell by 1.11 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Linn Energy LLC LINE, down 8 percent, and Natural Resource Partners LP NRP, off 8 percent.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley MS reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

The New York-based bank posted a quarterly profit of $1.81 billion, or $0.85 per share, compared to $1.9 billion, or $0.92 per share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, Morgan Stanley earned $0.79 per share.

Its net revenue climbed to $9.74 billion from $8.61 billion, while adjusted revenue rose to $9.56 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.74 per share on revenue of $9.10 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Exelixis, Inc. EXEL shares shot up 45 percent to $5.66 after the company announced positive top-line results from METEOR in which the study met the primary endpoint of significantly improving progress-free survival.

Vivint Solar Inc VSLR shares were also up, gaining 46 percent to $15.83 after the company agreed to be acquired by Sunedison Inc SUNE for $2.2 billion.

Shares of Lennox International Inc. LII got a boost, shooting up 9 percent to $117.69 on better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cal-Maine Foods Inc CALM shares tumbled 10 percent to $48.64 after the company reported downbeat Q4 results.

Shares of New Gold Inc. (USA) NGD were down 7 percent to $2.30. New Gold reported that it has entered into a $175 million streaming agreement with RGLD Gold AG.

Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) SSRI was down, falling 6 percent to $5.69. Silver futures fell 0.53 percent to trade at $14.76 an ounce.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.57 percent to $50.60, while gold traded down 2.05 percent to $1,108.70.

Silver traded down 0.87 percent Monday to $14.71, while copper fell 0.66 percent to $2.48.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.51 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.91 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.53 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.98 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.71 percent while UK shares gained 0.21 percent.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.