Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Big Lots Beats Q3 Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.96% to 27944.81 while the NASDAQ rose 0.87% to 8645.26. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.86% to 3,144.15.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 2.1% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Vista Oil & Gas, S.A.B. de C.V. VIST, up 9%, and Covia Holdings Corporation CVIA, up 10%.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.1%.

Top Headline

Big Lots, Inc. BIG reported upbeat results for its third quarter.

Big Lots posted quarterly loss of $0.18 per share, beating analysts’ estimates for a loss of $0.20 per share. Its sales came in at $1.168 billion, versus estimates of $1.16 billion.

Big Lots said it expects FY19 adjusted EPS of $3.70-$3.85, versus analysts’ estimates of $3.80.

Equities Trading UP

Wellesley Bancorp, Inc. WEBK shares shot up 29% to $41.81. Cambridge Trust announced plans to acquire Wellesley Bank for $122 million.

Shares of Genesco Inc. GCO got a boost, shooting up 28% to $47.08 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS results. The company also issued FY20 EPS guidance above analyst estimates and Q3 comps up 3%.

Big Lots, Inc. BIG shares were also up, gaining 26% to $24.07 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Correvio Pharma Corp. CORV shares tumbled 36% to $1.3784.

Shares of Yext, Inc. YEXT were down 16% to $14.00 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS results. The company also issued Q4 and FY20 EPS and sales guidance below analyst estimates.

PagerDuty, Inc. PD was down, falling 14% to $21.47 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS results. The company also issued Q4 and FY20 EPS guidance below analyst estimates.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.6% to $58.08, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,480.50.

Silver traded down 0.4% Friday to $17.00, while copper rose 0.3% to $17.00.

Euro zone


European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.5%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.8%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.2%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.3%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.5% while UK shares rose 0.9%.

Economics

The nonfarm payroll number came in at +266,000, above consensus economist expectations of +187,000. The unemployment rate dropped from 3.6% to just 3.5%, its lowest level in 50 years.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 99.2 in December, compared to 96.8 in November.

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.1% in October, versus a revised 0.7% decline in the prior month.

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

Data on consumer credit for October will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.