Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Foot Locker Misses Q1 Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.48 percent to 25613 while the NASDAQ rose 0.65 percent to 7,678. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.4 percent to 2,833.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 0.8 percent on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Total System Services, Inc. TSS, up 10 percent, and ViaSat, Inc. VSAT, up 8 percent.

In trading on Friday, consumer staples shares fell by 0.1 percent.

Top Headline

Foot Locker, Inc. FL reported downbeat results for its first quarter.

Foot Locker reported first-quarter earnings of $1.53 per share Friday, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $1.61 by 4.97 percent. The company reported quarterly sales of $2.078 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the quarter, Foot Locker said it opened 14 new stores, remodeled or relocated 13 stores and closed 34 stores. Comps rose 4.6 percent, the retailer said.

Equities Trading UP

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CYCC shares shot up 37 percent to $0.86. Roth Capital assumed Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating and a price target of $8.

Shares of DGSE Companies, Inc. DGSE got a boost, shooting up 29 percent to $0.58 after Corrent Resources, a subsidiary of DGSE Companies, announced it has completed the purchase of demanufacturing and IT-asset-disposition assets of Echo Environmental and ITAD USA.

Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB shares were also up, gaining 23 percent to $24.35 after reporting upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Urban Tea Inc MYT shares tumbled 48 percent to $1.23 after the company announced a direct offering of its ordinary shares worth approximately $4.6 million.

Shares of Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc DFFN were down 17 percent to $3.95 after the company announced a direct offering of 1.3 million shares priced at $4.77 per share.

Foot Locker, Inc. FL was down, falling 15 percent to $44.88 after reporting downbeat results for its first quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.2 percent to $58.60, while gold traded down 0.2 percent to $1,283.40.

Silver traded down 0.3 percent Friday to $ 14.565, while copper rose 0.5 percent to $2.6925.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.8 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.9 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.8 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.9 percent while UK shares rose 0.9 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders fell 2.1 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 2 percent drop.

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