Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Apple Tops Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.42 percent to 19,947.90 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.62 percent to 5,649.41. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.31 percent to 2,285.83.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Basic materials shares rose by 0.69 percent in trading on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Olin Corporation OLN, and Richmont Mines Inc. (USA) RIC.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares slipped by 0.08 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Dominion Resources, Inc. D, down 4 percent, and WEC Energy Group Inc WEC, down 1.5 percent.

Top Headline

Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday.

Apple reported Q1 EPS of $3.36, beating analysts’ expectations by $0.12. However, revenue came in at $78.4 billion, beating estimates by $20 million.

iPhone sales in the quarter rose to 78.3 million, versus 74.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Oneok Partners LP OKS shares shot up 31 percent to $56.40. ONEOK, Inc. OKE announced plans to acquire outstanding shares of Oneok Partners for $9.3 billion in stock.

Shares of Overstock.com, Inc. OSTK got a boost, shooting up 20 percent to $20.00. Overstock.com reported Q4 earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of $526.2 million.

Acxiom Corporation ACXM shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $29.86 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc CATB shares dropped 71 percent to $1.17 after the company reported top-line results for Part B of MoveDMD trial for CAT-1004 in DMD. The company disclosed that primary efficacy endpoint was not met.

Shares of Citrix Systems, Inc. CTXS were down around 19 percent to $73.55. Citrix posted upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued a weak 2017 forecast. The company also completed the spin-off and merger of its GoTo family of service offerings with LogMeIn, Inc. LOGM.

Galena Biopharma Inc GALE was down, falling around 18 percent to $1.35. Galena Biopharma reported the resignation of its President and CEO and announced plans to evaluate strategic alternatives for the company.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.97 percent to $53.32 while gold traded down 0.29 percent to $1,207.90.

Silver traded down 0.44 percent Wednesday to $17.47, while copper fell 0.20 percent to $2.72.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.20 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.35 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.94 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.28 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.41 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.61 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 246,000 jobs in January, ADP reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 165,000 jobs.

The Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 55.00 in January, versus a prior reading of 55.10. Economists projected a reading of 55.10.

The ISM manufacturing index rose to 56.00 for January, versus a previous reading of 54.70. Economists were expecting a reading of 55.00.

U.S. construction spending declined 0.20 percent in December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent growth.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.