Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Viacom Beats Q2 Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.08 percent to 20,940.33 while the NASDAQ declined 0.11 percent to 6,065.72. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 2,387.83.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector was the top gainer in the US market on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.38 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Unit Corporation UNT, down 16 percent, and Flotek Industries Inc FTK, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Viacom, Inc. VIAB posted upbeat results for its second quarter on Thursday.

Viacom said it earned $0.79 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $3.256 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.76 per share on revenue of $3.18 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Insight Enterprises, Inc. NSIT shares shot up 24 percent to $52.19 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc ARWR got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $1.91 after the company reported strong Q2 results.

FreightCar America, Inc. RAIL shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $15.36 following Q1 results. FreightCar America reported Q1 earnings of $0.05 per share on revenue of $139.5 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tuesday Morning Corporation TUES shares dropped 36 percent to $2.03 as the company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

Shares of Windtree Therapeutics Inc WINT were down around 24 percent to $0.841 as the company disclosed that it has received a notice of delisting from the NASDAQ.

Entellus Medical Inc ENTL was down, falling around 21 percent to $12.44. Entellus Medical posted a narrower-than-expected Q1 loss, but revenue missed estimates. The company projects full-year revenue of $86 million to $89 million. Canaccord Genuity downgraded Entellus Medical from Buy to Hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.94 percent to $46.89 while gold traded down 1.54 percent to $1,229.30.

Silver traded down 0.91 percent Thursday to $16.395, while copper fell 1.34 percent to $2.5095.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.42 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.92 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.43 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.80 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.96 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.34 percent.

Economics

U.S. trade deficit declined 0.1 percent to $43.7 billion in March. However, economists were expecting a $44.5 billion deficit. Exports dropped 0.9 percent to $191 billion in the month, while imports slipped 0.7 percent to $234.7 billion.

Initial jobless claims dropped 19,000 to 238,000 in the last week of April, the government said Thursday. Economists were expecting new claims to total 247,000 for the week.

U.S. nonfarm productivity declined 0.60 percent for the first quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent growth.

U.S. factory orders rose 0.20 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.40 percent increase.

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

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