Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Honeywell Tops Q4 Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.24 percent to 26,457.08 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.47 percent to 7,446.27. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.36 percent to 2,849.51.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the technology sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Intel Corporation INTC and VMware, Inc. VMW.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.25 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included New Jersey Resources Corp NJR, down 2 percent, and MGE Energy, Inc. MGEE down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Honeywell International Inc. HON reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and raised its FY18 earnings outlook.

Honeywell earned $1.85 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $10.843 billion, while Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.84 per share on revenue of $10.75 billion.

Honeywell now expects FY18 earnings of $7.75 to $8 per share, versus earlier forecast of $7.55 to $7.80 per share.

Equities Trading UP

8x8, Inc. EGHT shares shot up 12 percent to $18.10 as the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter on Thursday.

Shares of JAKKS Pacific, Inc. JAKK got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $2.90 after the company reported receipt of expression of interest from Meisheng to buy 51 percent of shares at $2.95 per share.

Abaxis Inc ABAX shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $73.50 after the company posted upbeat Q3 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Senseonics Holdings, Inc. SENS shares dropped 9 percent to $2.91 after the company reported pricing of $50 million convertible notes offering.

Shares of Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited AHL were down 11 percent to $36.80. Aspen Insurance reported preliminary estimate of Q44 underwriting loss of $245 million in Q4. The company expects $135 million in pre-tax losses during Q4 related to wildfires in California.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. BLDP was down, falling around 5 percent to $3.10 after the company posted Q4 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.03 percent to $65.53 while gold traded down 0.91 percent to $1,355.60.

Silver traded down 1.39 percent Friday to $17.37, while copper fell 0.72 percent to $3.1935.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.53 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.25 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.37 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.20 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.96 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.44 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders rose 2.9 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.80 percent growth

Gross Domestic Product rose 2.6 percent for the fourth quarter. Economists were expecting a 3 percent gain in GDP.

U.S. imports gained 13.9 percent in the fourth quarter, while exports climbed 6.9 percent.

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