Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Facebook Reports Mixed Q3 Results

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.14 percent to 25,157.60 while the NASDAQ climbed 2.24 percent to 7,321.92. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.34 percent to 2,718.47.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the communication services shares rose 2.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Gravity Co., LTD. GRVY up 16 percent, and Sprint Corp S up 11 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 1.3 percent.

Top Headline

Facebook, Inc. FB reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates.

Facebook reported earnings of $1.76 per share, beating the $1.47 estimate by 19.7 percent. Sales came in at $13.73 billion against a $13.79-billion estimate, but a 32-percent year-over-year increase.

The company reported daily active users for September were up 9 percent year-over-year.

Equities Trading UP

Strongbridge Biopharma plc SBBP shares shot up 30 percent to $5.26 after it was reported Novo Nordisk will acquire the US and Canadian rights to MACRILEN from the company and acquire 5.2 million shares for $7/share.

Shares of LSC Communications, Inc. LKSD got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $10.5701 after Quad/Graphics, Inc. QUAD announced plans to acquire the company in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.4 billion.

Accuray Incorporated ARAY shares were also up, gaining 30 percent to $4.4802 after the company posted Q1 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Maxar Technologies Ltd. MAXR shares dropped 38 percent to $16.75 after the company reported weak Q3 results.

Shares of The Container Store Group, Inc. TCS were down 41 percent to $5.95 after the company missed Q2 EPS and sales estimates.

Owens & Minor, Inc. OMI was down, falling around 30 percent to $10.00 following downbeat Q3 sales.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.14 percent to $66.27 while gold traded down 0.57 percent to $1,218.30.

Silver traded down 0.98 percent Wednesday to $14.32, while copper fell 0.02 to $2.6635.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.67 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.23 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.59 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.49 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 2.29 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.64 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 227,000 new jobs in October. However, economists were expecting an addition of 189,000 new jobs.

The employment cost index rose 0.8 percent for the third quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent increase.

The Chicago PMI declined to 58.40 for October, versus prior reading of 60.40. However, economists were expecting a reading of 60.30.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.