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

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.08 percent to 20,991.12 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.30 percent to 6,043.52. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.11 percent to 2,389.97.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the telecommunications services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Comcast Corporation CMCSA and Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (ADR) IIJI.

In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares slipped by 0.73 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp. KS, down 13 percent, and Cliffs Natural Resources Inc CLF, down 12 percent.

Top Headline

Ford Motor Company F reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Thursday.

Ford said it earned $0.39 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $36.48 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.36 per share on revenue of $34.70 billion.

 

Equities Trading UP

EXACT Sciences Corporation EXAS shares shot up 23 percent to $29.26 after the company reported a narrower-than-expected Q1 loss and raised its FY17 sales outlook.

Shares of GrubHub Inc GRUB got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $40.56 after the company posted upbeat Q1 results.

Essendant Inc ESND shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $17.42 after the company posted upbeat Q1 earnings and announced the retirement of its CFO Earl Shanks.


Equities Trading DOWN

Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. SNCR shares dropped 47 percent to $12.96 after the company reported the departures of CEO Ronald Hovsepian and CFO John Frederick. The company also lowered its Q1 outlook.

Shares of Ocean Power Technologies Inc OPTT were down around 31 percent to $1.40. Ocean Power Technologies priced its 5.385 million share common stock offering at $1.30 per share.

Pacific Biosciences of California PACB was down, falling around 21 percent to $4.07 after the company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 2.08 percent to $48.59 while gold traded up 0.18 percent to $1,266.50.

Silver traded up 0.08 percent Thursday to $17.445, while copper fell 0.23 percent to $2.5945.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.35 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.71 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.53 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.16 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.37 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.56 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders rose 0.7 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.2 percent growth.

The U.S. trade gap in goods increased to $64.8 billion in March, compared to $63.9 billion in February

Wholesale inventories declined 0.1percent for March, while retail inventories increased 0.4 percent in the month, according to advanced data.

Initial jobless claims rose 14,000 to 257,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 241,000 in the week.

The pending home sales index declined 0.8 percent to a reading of 111.40 in March. However, economists were expecting a 1.0 percent drop.

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

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for April is schedule for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on Farm prices for April will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

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Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMoversMid-Morning Market Update
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