Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; SAIC Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.02 percent to 17,892.30 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.34 percent to 5,173.59. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.03 percent to 2,103.18. Leading and Lagging Sectors In trading on Wednesday, technology shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.36 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Perion Network Ltd PERI, up 6 percent, and QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM, up 7 percent. Energy shares slipped by 0.78 percent in the US market on Wednesday. Top losers in the sector included Legacy Reserves LP LGCY, SunCoke Energy Inc SXC, and Kinder Morgan Inc KMI. Top Headline Science Applications International Corp SAIC reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter on Wednesday. The McLean, Virginia-based company reported quarterly net income of $34 million, or $0.72 per share, versus $37 million, or $0.77 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, the company's adjusted earnings came in at $0.73 per share. Its revenue rose to $1.13 billion from $993 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.65 per share on revenue of $1.14 billion. Equities Trading UP On Deck Capital Inc ONDK shares shot up 35 percent to $12.15. On Deck Capital reported that it is working with JP Morgan Chase Bank to offer small business loans. Keefe Bruyette & Woods upgraded On Deck Capital from Market Perform to Outperform. Shares of Mattson Technology, Inc. MTSN got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $3.61 after the company agreed to be acquired by E-Town Dragon for $3.80 per share. QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM shares were also up, gaining 7 percent to $52.90. Qualcomm and Xiaomi signed a 3G/4G license agreement. Equities Trading DOWN Zafgen Inc ZFGN shares tumbled 61 percent to $6.15 after the company reported a patient death in clinical update on Beloranib. Shares of Isle of Capri Casinos ISLE were down 12 percent to $16.68. Isle of Capri Casinos reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.19 per share on revenue of $236.3 million. Columbia Pipeline Group Inc CPGX was down, falling 3 percent to $18.57 as the company reported an offering for 51 million shares of common stock. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.84 percent to $41.08, while gold traded down 0.40 percent to $1,059.20. Silver traded down 0.31 percent Wednesday to $14.04, while copper fell 0.39 percent to $2.06. Eurozone European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.09 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.36 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.03 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.30 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.11 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.34 percent. Economics Private-sector employers added 217,000 jobs in November, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc. Economists were expecting an addition of 190,000 nonfarm jobs. US productivity climbed at an annual pace of 2.2 percent in the third quarter, while unit-labor costs increased at a 1.8 percent annual rate. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.