Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Kroger Sales Miss Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.71 percent to 26,184.00 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.96 percent to 8,030.59. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.59 percent to 2,906.08.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the information technology shares rose 0.97 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Impinj, Inc. PI up 50 percent, and USA Technologies, Inc. USAT up 15 percent.

In trading on Thursday, consumer staples shares fell 0.56 percent.

Top Headline

Kroger Co KR reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed estimates.

Kroger posted quarterly earnings of $0.41 per share on revenue of $27.87 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $0.38 per share on sales of $27.95 billion. Its same-store sales, excluding fuel, increased 1.6 percent for the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Impinj, Inc. PI shares shot up 47 percent to $27.67 after the company reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter and issued strong Q3 guidance.

Shares of Pinduoduo Inc. PDD got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $26.73 after analysts at Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and $31.90 price target.

GNC Holdings, Inc. GNC shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $3.722 following news that the company received CFIUS clearance of its previously announced investment from Harbin Pharma.

Equities Trading DOWN

Pivotal Software, Inc. PVTL shares dropped 17 percent to $23.77. Pivotal Software reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Shares of Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PGNX were down 17 percent to $6.085 after Phase 3 data for cancer imaging agent 1404 did not meet co-primary endpoint of sensitivity.

Fred's, Inc. FRED was down, falling around 14 percent to $2.28. Fred's reported a Q2 loss of $0.62 per share on sales of $419.658 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.44 percent to $69.36 while gold traded up 0.45 percent to $1,216.30.

Silver traded up 0.40 percent Thursday to $14.35, while copper rose 1.29 to $2.7105.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.84 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.16 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.46 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.27 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.31 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims fell 1,000 to 204,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting a 210,000 reading.

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.2 percent for August, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 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.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will speak in Jackson, Mississippi at 12:30 p.m. ET.

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

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