Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Dollar Tree Beats Q4 Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.08 percent to 25,786.18 while the NASDAQ declined 0.16 percent to 7,563.95. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.2 percent to 2,784.16.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the materials shares rose 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included LyondellBasell Industries NV LYB up 5 percent, and Forterra Inc FRTA up 4 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 1.7 percent.

Top Headline

Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR reported better-than-expected EPS and sales results for its fourth quarter.

Dollar Tree said it earned $1.93 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $6.21 billion versus expectations of $1.92 per share and $6.19 billion. The company reported a 2.4 percent increase in its same-store sales for the quarter.

Dollar Tree said it expects Q1 earnings of $1.05 to $1.15 per share, on sales of $5.74 billion to $5.85 billion. The company projects FY19 EPS of $4.85-$5.25 on sales of $23.45 billion-$23.87 billion. Analysts project Q1 earnings of $1.30 per share on sales of $5.80 billion and FY19 EPS of $5.80 on sales of $23.89 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Bio-Path Holdings Inc BPTH shares got a boost, shooting up 68 percent to $7.76 after the company's Phase 2 trial of BP1001 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia demonstrated 'meaningful clinical improvement' with an 'excellent' patient safety profile.

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. AVAV shot up 22 percent to $93.75 on better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $25.40 following upbeat Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

NIO Inc. NIO shares dropped 15 percent to $8.60 following Q4 results. Although the company beat sales estimates, it terminated its plan for a Shanghai manufacturing plant and said it expects a greater-than-anticipated sequential decrease in deliveries.

Shares of The Meet Group, Inc. MEET were down 13 percent to $5.15 after the company reported Q4 results.

Qutoutiao Inc. QTT was down, falling around 17 percent to $13.01 after the company reported a wider net loss compared to Q4 last year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.3 percent to $55.85 while gold traded up 0.3 percent to $1,289.00.

Silver traded up 0.4 percent Wednesday to $15.16, while copper fell 0.03 percent to $2.9325.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.4 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.4 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.2 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.2 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 183,000 jobs in February, versus a revised 300,000 gain in January, ADP reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 189,000 jobs.
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The U.S. trade deficit increased around 19 percent to $59.8 billion in December. However, economists were projecting a $57 billion deficit. Imports increased 2.1 percent to $264.9 billion in December, while exports fell 1.9 percent to $205.1 billion.

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

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak at the Economic Club of New York at 12:10 p.m. ET.

The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.