Mid-Day Market Update: U.S. Stocks Turn Positive; Baidu Shares Fall On Earnings Miss

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.26 percent to 25929.90 while the NASDAQ rose 0.21 percent to 7,914.28. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.21 percent to 2,882.32.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 0.3 percent on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included AquaVenture Holdings Limited WAAS, up 1 percent, and Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. CWCO, up 2 percent.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 0.6 percent.

Top Headline

Deere & Company DE reported downbeat earnings for its second quarter and lowered its FY19 guidance

Deere & Company reported net income of $1.135 billion for the quarter, or $3.52 per share, compared with net income of $1.208 billion, or $3.67 per share, for the same period last year. Global net sales and revenues increased 6 percent, to $11.342 billion, for the second quarter. Wall Street analysts expected earnings of $3.61 per share on sales of $10.18 billion.

Deere expects equipment sales are projected to increase by about 5 percent for fiscal 2019 compared with 2018. The company cut 2019 net income guidance from $3.6 billion to $3.3 billion and cut 2019 sales growth guidance from 7 percent to 5 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Cray Inc. CRAY shares shot up 18 percent to $35.18 after Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE announced plans to acquire Cray in a transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion.

Shares of 21Vianet Group, Inc. VNET got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $8.86 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 EPS and sales results.

Luckin Coffee Inc. LK shares were also up, gaining 51 percent to $25.68 after pricing its IPO at $17 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

NeoPhotonics Corporation NPTN shares tumbled 23 percent to $3.51 after MKM Partners downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $9 to $4.5.

Shares of Baidu, Inc. BIDU were down 14 percent to $132.18 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 EPS. The company also issued Q2 sales guidance below analyst estimates.

BioPharmX Corporation BPMX was down, falling 17 percent to $1.0499 after the company registered an $8.5 million common stock offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4 percent to $63.12, while gold traded down 0.7 percent to $1,276.80.

Silver traded down 1 percent Friday to $14.395, while copper fell 0.3 percent to $2.7405.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.5 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.4 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.7 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.4 percent while UK shares dropped 0.1 percent.

Economics

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment increased to 102.4 in May, versus April’s reading of 97.2. However, economists were projecting a reading of 97.1.

The index of leading economic indicators rose 0.2 percent for April.

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

Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman Richard Clarida is set to speak in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 1:40 p.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in New York at 2:00 p.m. ET.