Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; CVS Health Profit Tops Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.18 percent to 25,583.70 while the NASDAQ declined 0.08 percent to 7,877.32. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.10 percent to 2,855.46.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the financial shares climbed 0.29 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Beneficial Bancorp, Inc. BNCL up 14 percent, and Golden Bull Limited DNJR up 14 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.78 percent.

Top Headline

CVS Health Corp CVS reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY18 earnings guidance.

The retail pharmacy and health care company said it earned $1.69 per share in the second quarter on revenue of $46.7 billion versus expectations of $1.61 per share and $46.34 billion. CVS now expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $6.98-$7.08 per share, versus earlier outlook of $6.87-$7.08 per share.

The company also updated its pending merger with Aetna Inc AET and said it expects to close in early Q4 if not earlier.

Equities Trading UP

Ability Inc. ABIL shares shot up 132 percent to $6.548.

Shares of 3D Systems Corporation DDD got a boost, shooting up 31 percent to $17.785 following upbeat Q2 earnings.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. AAOI shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $43.57 after the company reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMPE shares dropped 69 percent to $0.8947 after the FDA said the company's trial for AP-0003-C was not adequate. The FDA is recommending Ampio performs a randomized trial.

Shares of Extreme Networks, Inc. EXTR were down 33 percent to $5.99 after the company posted downbeat Q4 sales and issued a weak forecast for the first quarter.

Core Molding Technologies, Inc. CMT was down, falling around 30 percent to $9.60 following Q2 results. Core Molding posted Q2 earnings of $0.06 per share on sales of $68.6 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.42 percent to $68.19 while gold traded down 0.24 percent to $1,215.40.

Silver traded down 0.41 percent Wednesday to $15.31, while copper fell 0.33 to $2.743.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.23 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.62 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.12 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.02 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.19 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.68 percent.

Economics

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.