Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; J C Penney Posts Narrower Q2 Loss

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.12 percent to 18,591.40 while the NASDAQ declined 0.13 percent to 5,221.40. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.14 percent to 2,182.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Delek US Holdings, Inc. DK and CVR Energy, Inc. CVI.

In trading on Friday, healthcare shares slipped by 0.38 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Genomic Health, Inc. GHDX, down 3 percent, and IRIDEX Corporation IRIX, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

J C Penney Company Inc JCP reported a narrower-than-expected loss for the second quarter and reaffirmed its outlook for the full year 2016.

The departmental retailer delivered a 52 percent improvement in net loss to $56 million or a loss per share $0.18. On an adjusted basis, EPS improved 88 percent to a loss per share of $0.05 compared to a loss per share of $0.40 last year. Street estimate was for a loss of $0.15 a share.

J C Penney recorded 1.5 percent growth in total net sales from $2.875 billion to $2.918 billion in the second quarter thus missing analysts' predictions of $2.93 billion marginally. Comparable sales advanced 2.2 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Silicon Graphics International Corp SGI shares shot up 29 percent to $7.69 after Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE announced plans to acquire the company for around $275 million.

Shares of Acacia Communications, Inc. ACIA got a boost, shooting up 26 percent to $85.28 following Q2 results. Acacia Communications reported quarterly non-GAAP earnings of $0.77 per share on revenue of $116.2 million. The company expects Q3 non-GAAP earnings of $0.64 to $0.76 per share, on revenue of $120 million to $128 million.

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NBY shares were also up, gaining 39 percent to $3.40 following Q2 results. NovaBay Pharma reported a Q2 loss of $0.36 per share on revenue of $2.7 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ocean Rig UDW Inc. ORIG shares dropped 55 percent to $0.970. Ocean Rig reported Q2 EPS $1.83 versus estimates of $0.72. Sales were $452.6 million versus estimates of $376.45 million. During the call, Chairman and CEO George Economou assured the company will focus on de-leveraging and maintaining liquidity, amidst “extremely negative” market conditions.

Shares of Concordia International Corp CXRX were down 25 percent to $12.32 as the company announced second quarter earnings that missed the estimates. Aside from that, the company slashed its forecast for the full year and suspended dividend.

Xtera Communications Inc XCOM was down, falling around 15 percent to $0.960. Xtera Communications reported a Q3 loss of $1.35 per share on revenue of $5.3 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.87 percent to $43.87 while gold traded up 0.59 percent to $1,357.90.

Silver traded up 0.70 percent Friday to $20.16, while copper fell 1.39 percent to $2.17.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.21 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.07 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.08 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.32 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.09 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.17 percent.

Economics

The Producer Price Index declined 0.4 percent for July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent growth.

U.S. retail sales came in flat for July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.

U.S. business inventories rose 0.2 percent for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.10 percent gain.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 90.40 in August, versus a prior reading of 90.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 91.50.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.