Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; J C Penney Sales Beat Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.25 percent to 23,404.38 while the NASDAQ declined 0.18 percent to 6,738.02. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.26 percent to 2,577.96.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.43 percent.

In trading on Friday, healthcare shares fell 0.72 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. INFI, down 13 percent, and Clearfield Inc CLFD down 5 percent.

Top Headline

J C Penney Company Inc JCP reported strong sales for its third quarter.

J C Penney posted quarterly adjusted loss of $0.33 per share on revenue of $2.81 billion. However, analysts were expecting revenue of $2.74 billion. Its comparable sales climbed 1.7 percent during the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

China Recycling Energy Corp. CREG shares shot up 150 percent to $9.39 after surging 195.28 percent on Thursday.

Shares of Omeros Corporation OMER got a boost, shooting up 39 percent to $19.61 after reporting strong Q3 results.

Avid Technology, Inc. AVID shares were also up, gaining 26 percent to $5.09 following Q3 results. Avid Technology reported Q3 earnings of $0.00 per share on revenue of $105.26 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

LightPath Technologies, Inc. LPTH shares dropped 16 percent to $3.13 following fiscal 2018 first quarter results. Net income for the quarter was around $218,000, versus $140,000 in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Esterline Technologies Corporation ESL were down 17 percent to $72.60 after missing fourth-quarter earnings and sales estimates. The company issued FY17 earnings guidance far below analyst estimates at $3.65-$4.05.

Trade Desk Inc TTD was down, falling around 12 percent to $52.20. Trade Desk reported a third-quarter earnings and sales beat, but issued a weak sales outlook for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.01 percent to $57.17 while gold traded down 0.12 percent to $1,285.90.

Silver traded up 0.50 percent Friday to $17.06, while copper rose 0.08 percent to $3.0885.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.15 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.26 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.12 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.04 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.20 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.49 percent.

Economics

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 97.80 in November, versus prior reading of 100.70. Economists expected a reading of 100.70.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.