Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Foot Locker Beats Q4 Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.62 percent to 26,076.22 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.66 percent to 7,582.01. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.7 percent to 2,803.91.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the financial shares rose 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included eHealth, Inc. EHTH up 10 percent, and China Life Insurance Company Limited LFC up 6 percent.

In trading on Friday, real estate shares fell 0.5 percent.

Top Headline

Foot Locker, Inc. FL reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Foot Locker said it earned $1.56 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $2.272 billion versus expectations of $1.39 per share and $2.18 billion. Same-store sales climbed 9.7 percent during the quarter. The company projects double-digit EPS growth and mid-single digit comps growth in FY19.

Equities Trading UP

Puma Biotechnology, Inc. PBYI shares got a boost, shooting up 37 percent to $38.13 after the company beat Q4 EPS and sales estimates.

Shares of GlobalSCAPE, Inc. GSB shot up 30 percent to $5.88 following Q4 results. GlobalSCAPE posted Q4 earnings of $0.17 per share on sales of $9.27 million.

Farfetch Limited FTCH shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $29.84 after reporting strong Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

ImmunoGen, Inc. IMGN shares dropped 51 percent to $2.3250 after the company's Phase 3 FORWARD I study of mirvetuximab soravtansine for ovarian cancer failed to meet its primary endpoint.

Shares of Intrexon Corporation XON were down 26 percent to $5.88 after the company reported worse than expected Q4 EPS and Northland Securities downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

Nutanix, Inc. NTNX was down, falling around 32 percent to $34.18. Nutanix reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its second quarter, but issued weak 2019 guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2 percent to $57.08 while gold traded down 0.7 percent to $1,306.60.

Silver traded down 0.8 percent Friday to $15.51, while copper rose 0.3 percent to $2.9575.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.5 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.6 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.4 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 1.2 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.6 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.5 percent.

Economics

U.S. consumer spending fell 0.5 percent for December, while personal income slipped 0.1 percent in December.

The IHS Markit final manufacturing PMI fell to 53 in February, compared to previous reading of 53.7. However, economists estimated a reading of 53.7.

The ISM manufacturing index declined to a reading of 54.2 in February, versus prior reading of 56.6. Economists were expecting a reading of 55.5.

The final reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index dropped to 93.8 in February, from the initial reading of 95.5. However, economists projected a reading of 95.6.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic is set to speak in Washington, DC at 12:50 p.m. ET.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.