Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Express Posts Downbeat Q4 Sales

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.5 percent to 25,683.65 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.56 percent to 7,633.17. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.53 percent to 2,806.23.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the information technology shares climbed 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Everi Holdings Inc EVRI up 7 percent, and Ideanomics Inc IDEX up 8 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares rose by just 0.1 percent.

Top Headline

Express, Inc. EXPR reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views. The company also issued weak forecast for the first quarter.

Express reported quarterly earnings of $0.19 per share on sales of $628.4 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.16 per share on sales of $629.63 million.

Express projects Q1 EPS of $(0.34) to $(0.27), versus analysts’ estimates of $(0.04). The company expects Q1 comparable sales down 9 percent to 11 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Akari Therapeutics PLC AKTX shares got a boost, shooting up 80 percent to $3.28 after the company had a successful Type B, pre-IND meeting with the FDA regarding Akari's proposed pivotal clinical trial program for hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy.

Shares of Pareteum Corporation TEUM shot up 20 percent to $4.70 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. CLNE shares were also up, gaining 23 percent to $2.79 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results. The company also issued FY19 EBITDA guidance of $50 million to $55 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sientra, Inc. SIEN shares dropped 22 percent to $8.86 after the company reported lower-than-expected Q4 EPS results.

Shares of BlueLinx Holdings Inc. BXC were down 14 percent to $26.60 following Q4 results. Bluelinx posted a Q4 loss of $1.74 per share on sales of $672.64 million.

Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. SNCR was down, falling around 15 percent to $7.03 after reporting lower-than-expected earnings and sales for its fourth quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1 percent to $57.50 while gold traded up 0.7 percent to $1,307.30.

Silver traded up 0.6 percent Wednesday to $15.505, while copper rose 0.2 percent to $2.933.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.3 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.3 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.1 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.3 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders increased 0.4 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent decline.

The Producer Price Index rose 0.1 percent for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.

U.S. construction spending rose 1.3 percent for January, beating economists’ estimates of a 0.4 percent gain.

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