Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; J C Penney Posts Wider-Than-Expected Loss

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.25 percent to 21,899.18 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.53 percent to 6,250.11. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.30 percent to 2,445.41.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the technology shares rose by 0.69 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Electronics For Imaging, Inc. EFII, up 10 percent, and Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Ltd AOSL, up 6 percent.

In trading on Friday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.53 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (ADR) ACH, down 6 percent, and Endeavour Silver Corp EXK, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

J C Penney Company Inc JCP posted a wider-than-expected Q2 loss.

J C Penney posted adjusted loss of $0.09 per share on revenue of $2.96 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.05 per share on revenue of $2.84 billion.

Sales at stores open more than 12 months dropped 1.3 percent during the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

DryShips Inc. DRYS shares shot up 78 percent to $3.64. DryShips reported that it will conduct a $100 million private placement and announced termination of stock purchase deal with Kalani.

Shares of Apollo Endosurgery Inc APEN got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $5.25 as the company issued an update and clarity to the FDA letter to Health Care Providers related to potential risks of intragastric balloons. The company disclosed that ORBERA is approved by the FDA as safe and effective.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. ANW shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $4.90 as the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Clarksons Platou upgraded Aegean Marine Petroleum from Neutral to Buy.

Equities Trading DOWN

EnteroMedics Inc ETRM shares dropped 38 percent to $2.04. EnteroMedics reported commencement of Series B convertible preferred stock and warrant offering.

Shares of Black Box Corporation BBOX were down 41 percent to $4.43. Black Box reported Q1 operating loss of $0.33 per share on sales of $191.6 million.

Luxoft Holding Inc LXFT was down, falling around 29 percent to $43.00 after the company posted weaker-than-expected Q1 results. Wedbush downgraded Luxoft from Outperform to Neutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.64 percent to $48.28 while gold traded up 0.09 percent to $1,291.20.

Silver traded down 0.35 percent Friday to $17.005, while copper rose 0.16 percent to $2.9075.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.95 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.15 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.25 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.06 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.81 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.74 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent for July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent growth

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari will speak in Bloomington, MN at 11:30 a.m. ET.

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