Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Monsanto Posts Lower Q2 Profit

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.21 percent to 17,566.62 while the NASDAQ gained 0.19 percent to 4,853.17. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.08 percent to 2,043.64. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Wednesday, healthcare shares gained by 0.79 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. INFI, up 9 percent, and Sarepta Therapeutics Inc SRPT, up 4 percent. In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares tumbled by 0.24 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. SCHN, down 7 percent, and Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA (ADR) BVN, down 2 percent. Top Headline Monsanto Company MON reported weaker-than-expected results for its fiscal second quarter. Monsanto posted quarterly net income of $1.06 billion, or $2.41 per share, compared to $1.43 billion, or $2.92 per share, in the year-ago period. Its earnings per share from ongoing business came in at $2.42. Its total net sales declined 12.8 percent $4.53 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $2.44 per share on revenue of $4.76 billion. Looking forward to the full year fiscal 2016, Monsanto confirmed its fiscal 2016 ongoing earnings per share outlook of $4.40 to $5.10 per share versus Wall Street's expectations of $4.65 per share. Equities Trading UP Momo Inc (ADR) MOMO shares shot up 21 percent to $14.51. Tang Yan reported a 25.9 percent stake in Momo. Shares of Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc TKAI got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $6.74. Bank of America initiated coverage on Tokai Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating. OMNOVA Solutions Inc. OMN shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to 6.52 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings. Equities Trading DOWN Cree, Inc. CREE shares dropped 16 percent to $24.33 after the company issued a weak outlook for the third quarter. Shares of Supercom Ltd SPCB were down 14 percent to $3.60 as the company reported the postponement of its Q4 and full year earnings release to April 11, 2016. Jernigan Capital Inc JCAP was down, falling around 10 percent to $13.00. Wunderlich downgraded Jernigan Capital from Hold to Sell. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 2.09 percent to $36.64 while gold traded down 0.76 percent to $1,220.30. Silver traded down 1.16 percent Wednesday to $14.94, while copper fell 0.26 percent to $2.13. Eurozone European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.16 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.03 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.45 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.25 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.28 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.64 percent. Economics The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.