Mid-Day Market Update: Avalon Holdings Rises Following Q2 Earnings; Endologix Shares Drop

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.69 percent to 25,333.12 while the NASDAQ declined 0.45 percent to 7,856.14. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.44 percent to 2,840.99.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the utilities shares rose 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Azure Power Global Limited AZRE up 3 percent, and Pattern Energy Group Inc. PEGI up 2 percent.

In trading on Friday, financial shares fell 1.05 percent.

Top Headline

Trade Desk Inc TTD reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Thursday. The company issued strong third quarter sales guidance and raised FY18 sales guidance.

Earnings came in at 60 cents per share, beating estimates by 16 cents. Sales came in at $112 million, beating estimates by $8 million. The company issued strong third quarter sales guidance and raised FY18 sales guidance from $433 million to $456 million.

Equities Trading UP

Avalon Holdings Corporation AWX shares shot up 50 percent to $4.36 following Q2 results. Avalon posted Q2 earnings of $0.16 per share on sales of $16.705 million.

Shares of TMSR Holding Company Limited TMSR got a boost, shooting up 58 percent to $9.80.

Medley Management Inc. MDLY shares were also up, gaining 45 percent to $5.07. Sierra, Medley Capital, and Medley Management agreed to merge to create one internally managed BDC.

Equities Trading DOWN

Gemphire Therapeutics Inc. GEMP shares dropped 43 percent to $1.865 after investigator recommended termination of Gemcabene clinical trial. Results were consistent with disease worsening, deemed to be likely due to the drug.

Shares of Endologix, Inc. ELGX were down 40 percent to $2.8494 after the company announced its quarterly financial results and lowered its guidance.

Celsius Holdings, Inc. CELH was down, falling around 12 percent to $3.95 following Q2 results. Celsius posted a Q2 loss of $0.07 per share on sales of $9.298 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.24 percent to $67.64 while gold traded down 0.03 percent to $1,219.50.

Silver traded down 0.89 percent Friday to $15.325, while copper fell 0.45 to $2.753.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.56 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.51 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1.59 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.59 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.97 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.2 percent for July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent rise.

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

The U.S. Treasury budget report for July is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.