Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; Morgan Stanley Beats Q2 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.14 percent to 21,604.39 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.39 percent to 6,369.26. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.30 percent to 2,467.90.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.67 percent in the US market on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, telecommunications services shares rose by just 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Internet Gold Golden Lines Ltd IGLD, down 3 percent, and Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd (ADR) CHT, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley MS reported better-than-expected profit for its second quarter.

Morgan Stanley posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.87 per share on revenue of $9.50 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.76 per share on sales of $9.09 billion.

Morgan Stanley raised its quarterly dividend from $0.20 to $0.25 per share and announced a $5 billion buyback plan.

Equities Trading UP

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX shares shot up 25 percent to $165.63 after the company reported encouraging phase 2 data. The company's three-drug cocktails showed an improvement in lung functions among patients with cystic fibrosis by 9.6 percentage points or more, which was better than what analysts were expecting. Cowen upgraded Vertex Pharma from Market Perform to Outperform, while Raymond James upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform. Barclays also upgraded Vertex from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

Shares of Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. SNI got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $78.42. Discovery Communications Inc. DISCA is in talks to merge with Scripps Networks, according to sources as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

AEterna Zentaris Inc. (USA) AEZS shares were also up, gaining 67 percent to $1.70 after the company reported that the NDA for Macrilen for evaluation of growth hormone deficiency in adults has been granted a December 30, 2017 PDUFA date.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc CYCC shares dropped 41 percent to $1.75. Cyclacel Pharma reported the pricing of offering for $13.2 million in gross proceeds.

Shares of Spherix Inc SPEX were down 19 percent to $2.16. Spherix priced 1.25 million shares at $2 per share.

Ekso Bionics Holdings, Inc. EKSO was down, falling around 24 percent to $1.59. Ekso Bionics reported a proposed $34 million rights offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.26 percent to $46.52 while gold traded down 0.08 percent to $1,240.90.

Silver traded down 0.02 percent Wednesday to $16.265, while copper fell 0.11 percent to $2.7275.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.43 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.17 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.01 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.11 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.31 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.32 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity rose 6.3 percent for the latest week.

Housing starts rose 8.3 percent in May to an annual rate of 1.22 million. However, economists were expecting a 1.16 million annual pace.

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