Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; DowDuPont Profit Tops Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.34 percent to 25,201.47 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.11 percent to 7,313.94. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.25 percent to 2,718.41.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the materials shares rose 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Resolute Forest Products RFP up 18 percent, and Lithium Americas Corp LAC up 7 percent.

In trading on Thursday, communication services shares fell 0.4 percent.

Top Headline

DowDuPont Inc DWDP reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed views.

DowDuPont reported earnings of $0.74 per share, beating the $0.72 estimate. Sales came in at $20.123 billion against a $20.21-billion estimate. The company also announced a $3 billion share buyback plan.

Equities Trading UP

Foundation Building Materials, Inc. FBM shares shot up 17 percent to $11.10 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings.

Shares of Fox Factory Holding Corp. FOXF got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $64.085 following upbeat Q3 results.

Stratasys Ltd. SSYS shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $23.0516 after the company posted upbeat Q3 results and raised its FY18 EPS guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Jones Energy Inc JONE shares dropped 15 percent to $2.73 after the company missed Q3 EPS and sales estimates.

Shares of ION Geophysical Corporation IO were down 19 percent to $9.565 following a Q3 sales miss.

Veeco Instruments Inc. VECO was down, falling around 17 percent to $7.945 after the company posted downbeat Q3 sales and issued a weak Q4 forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.55 percent to $64.95 while gold traded up 1.23 percent to $1,230.00.

Silver traded down 1.32 percent Thursday to $14.47, while copper rose 0.36 to $2.6685.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.52 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.68 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.86 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.64 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.10 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims fell 2,000 to 214,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 213,000 last week.

U.S. nonfarm productivity rose at an annual pace of 2.2 percent for the third quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 2.2 percent increase. Unit labour costs rose 1.2 percent for the third quarter.

The final reading of Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 55.7 for October, versus 55.6 for September. However, economists projected a reading of 55.9.

U.S. construction spending was unchanged for September, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent rise.

The ISM manufacturing index declined to57.70 for October, versus a prior reading of 59.80. However, economists projected a reading of 59.00.

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