Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Amazon To Buy Whole Foods For $13.7 Billion

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.10 percent to 21,337.58 while the NASDAQ declined 0.13 percent to 6,157.21. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.17 percent to 2,428.22.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 0.26 percent in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Suburban Propane Partners LP SPH, Baytex Energy Corp (USA) BTE, and SandRidge Permian Trust PER.

In trading on Friday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 1.30 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Target Corporation TGT, down 11 percent, and Costco Wholesale Corporation COST, down 8 percent.

Top Headline

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN on Friday announced its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM, a $42-per-share transaction pending approval by the target’s shareholders.

The deal is expected to close in the latter half of 2017.

Equities Trading UP

Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM shares shot up 27 percent to $42.13 after Amazon announced its plans to acquire Whole Foods for $42 per share.

Shares of Celsion Corporation CLSN got a boost, shooting up 55 percent to $3.18 after withdrawing stock offering.

Myomo Inc. MYO shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $10.55 after jumping 33.01 percent on Thursday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Kroger Co KR shares dropped 14 percent to $21.17 following news of Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market. JP Morgan downgraded Kroger from Overweight to Neutral, while Telsey Advisory Group downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

Shares of SUPERVALU INC. SVU were down 15 percent to $3.21 following news of Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market.

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation BAH was down, falling around 19 percent to $32.00 as the company reported a DoJ civil and criminal investigation regarding cost accounting and cost charging practices. Raymond James downgraded Booz Allen from Outperform to Market Perform, while Drexel Hamilton downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.72 percent to $44.78 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,257.50.

Silver traded up 0.14 percent Friday to $16.74, while copper rose 0.06 percent to $2.582.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.54 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.39 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.33 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.24 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.65 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.50 percent.

Economics

Housing starts dropped 5.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.09 million in May. However, economists were expecting a rate of 1.22 million for May. Building permits declined 4.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.17 million in May.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 94.50 in June, versus a prior reading of 97.10. However, economists were expecting a reading of 97.10.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Dallas at 12:45 p.m. ET.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.