Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Aetna Profit Beats Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.44 percent to 25,221.80 while the NASDAQ declined 0.02 percent to 7,705.79. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.22 percent to 2,807.27.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the consumer staples shares climbed 0.01 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. NATR up 9 percent, and Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. SFM up 12 percent.

In trading on Thursday, materials shares fell 1.45 percent.

Top Headline

Aetna Inc. AET reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Earnings came in at $3.43 per share, beating market estimates of $3.04 per share. Sales came in at $15.56 billion, beating estimates of $15.5 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Boingo Wireless, Inc. WIFI shares shot up 32 percent to $30.65 after reporting a second-quarter earnings beat. Boingo Wireless also announced the purchase of Elauwit Networks for $28 million in cash.

Shares of STAAR Surgical Company STAA got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $39.00 after the company posted upbeat Q2 earnings and raised FY18 sales growth guidance.

DexCom, Inc. DXCM shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $116.18 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised its FY18 sales guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. CCRN shares dropped 28 percent to $8.571 after posting downbeat Q2 results.

Shares of ION Geophysical Corporation IO were down 27 percent to $18.92 after the company announced weak quarterly financial results.

Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. FND was down, falling around 15 percent to $40.80 after the company announced its quarterly financial results and trimmed its full-year guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.78 percent to $67.13 while gold traded down 0.43 percent to $1,222.30.

Silver traded down 0.34 percent Thursday to $15.40, while copper fell 0.95 to $2.7215.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.92 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.19 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.81 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1.61 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.74 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.94 percent.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims rose 1,000 to 218,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting a reading of 220,000.

U.S. factory orders rose 0.7 percent for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent gain.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Data o money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.