Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; SYSCO Profit Beats Expectations

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.19 percent to 25,361.29 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.41 percent to 7,871.55. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.26 percent to 2,840.54.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the information technology shares rose 0.61 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated DBD up 8 percent, and Altair Engineering Inc. ALTR up 8 percent.

In trading on Monday, consumer staples shares fell 0.10 percent.

Top Headline

SYSCO Corporation SYY reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Monday.

Earnings came in at 94 cents per share, beating estimates of 93 cents. Sales came in at $15.32 billion, beating estimates of $15.28 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Ability Inc. ABIL shares shot up 60 percent to $7.33.

Shares of Nielsen Holdings plc NLSN got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $24.54. The WSJ first reported activist investment firm Elliott Management acquired an 8-percent stake in the measurement and data analytics company and plans to push management to explore a sale of itself.

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated DBD shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $4.275 after the company increased its total ownership in Diebold Nixdorf AG to 90%.

Equities Trading DOWN

Dycom Industries, Inc. DY shares dropped 22 percent to $70.36 after the company lowered its outlook for the second quarter and FY19.

Shares of Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited BEDU were down 24 percent to $11.01 after Chinese regulators drafted legislation limiting acquisition abilities of private schools.

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. JKS was down, falling around 18 percent to $12.96 following mixed Q2 earnings. The company beat sales estimates but missed on EPS.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.28 percent to $67.44 while gold traded down 0.95 percent to $1,207.40.

Silver traded down 0.78 percent Monday to $15.175, while copper fell 0.42 to $2.731.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.26 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.80 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.05 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.36 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.11 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.41 percent.

Economics

On the economics calendar Monday, there is no important data due out.