Mid-Morning Market Update: U.S. Markets Mixed; Apple Beats Q4 Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.13 percent to 23,486.65 while the NASDAQ gained 0.06 percent to 6,718.82. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.07 percent to 2,578.10.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.72 percent.

In trading on Friday, financial shares fell 0.41 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Financial Engines Inc FNGN, down 26 percent, and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. CBL down 24 percent.

Top Headline

Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

The tech giant posted quarterly EPS of $2.07, beating estimates by 20 cents. Sales came in at $52.6 billion, topping estimates by $1.81 billion. Apple issued first-quarter sales guidance of $84-$87 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Insignia Systems, Inc. ISIG shares shot up 32 percent to $1.80 after the company reported Q3 net income of $451,000, or $0.04 per share, versus a year-ago net loss of $167,000, or $0.01 per share.

Shares of Boot Barn Holdings Inc BOOT got a boost, shooting up 31 percent to $9.94 after the company posted better-than-expected Q2 results and raised its FY 2018 forecast.

TriNet Group Inc TNET shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $41.90 following Q3 results. TriNet reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.56 per share on revenue of $819.3 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Rubicon Project Inc RUBI shares dropped 37 percent to $2.16 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results.

Shares of KEYW Holding Corp. KEYW were down 31 percent to $5.34 after the company posted weaker-than-expected Q3 results and lowered its FY17 sales forecast.

HMS Holdings Corp HMSY was down, falling around 37 percent to $11.87 as the company posted weaker-than-expected Q3 results and issued a downbeat sales forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.40 percent to $54.76 while gold traded down 0.03 percent to $1,277.70.

Silver traded up 0.11 percent Friday to $17.155, while copper fell 0.05 percent to $3.142.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.29 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.12 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.20 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.05 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.

Economics

U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs for October. However, economists were expecting a gain of 310,000 nonfarm jobs. Unemployment declined to 4.1 percent versus 4.2 percent.

U.S. trade deficit increased 1.7 percent to $43.5 billion in September, compared to $42.8 billion in August. However, economists projected a $43.3 billion deficit.

U.S. Markit services PMI slipped to 55.30 for October, versus prior reading of 55.90. Economists expected a reading of 55.90.

The ISM non-manufacturing index gained to 60.10 in October, versus previous reading of 59.80. Economists estimated a reading of 58.50.

U.S. factory orders rose 1.4 percent for September, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.3 percent gain.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Washington at 12:15 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.