Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; International Speedway Misses Q2 Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.22% to 26845.00 while the NASDAQ rose 0.34% to 8136.31. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.28% to 2,981.38.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares rose 1.1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Clipper Realty Inc. CLPR, up 3%, and Senior Housing Properties Trust SNH, up 3%.

In trading on Wednesday, materials shares fell 0.1%.

Top Headline

International Speedway Corp ISCA reported downbeat results for its second quarter.

International Speedway reported earnings of 36 cents per share, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of 39 cents. The company reported quarterly sales of $168.084 million, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $178.99 million. International Speedway reaffirmed its FY20 guidance.

Equities Trading UP

OMNOVA Solutions Inc. OMN shares shot up 55% to $9.98 after Synthomer Plc announced plans to buy OMNOVA for an enterprise value of $824 million. Omnova’s profit for the second quarter dropped over 33% to $5.6 million. Net sales slipped to $205.7 million for the quarter, from $206.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of China SXT Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SXTC got a boost, shooting up 15% to $4.55 after the company disclosed that Traditional Chinese Medicine Pieces has begun production of TCM Homologous Supplements.

Symantec Corporation SYMC shares were also up, gaining 15% to $25.40 after a report that Broadcom Inc. AVGO would acquire the company.

Equities Trading DOWN

USANA Health Sciences, Inc. USNA shares tumbled 17% to $63.74 after the company cut its FY2019 EPS and sales guidance below analyst estimates. The company also sees second-quarter EPS and sales guidance below analyst estimates.

Shares of Camber Energy, Inc. CEI were down 22% to $0.1240 after the company reported the approval of 1-for-25 reverse stock split..

Unum Therapeutics Inc. UMRX was down, falling 6% to $2.07 after the company announced that the FDA placed a clinical hold on Phase 1 trial of its ACTR087.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $56.70, while gold traded up 1.1% to $1,423.80.

Silver traded up 0.4% Wednesday to $15.295, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.666.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.9%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 1.7%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.7%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.6% while UK shares rose 0.7%.

Economics

U.S. private employers added 102,000 jobs for June, ADP reported Wednesday, versus a revised 41,000 in May. However, economists were expecting a gain of 140,000 new jobs.

Initial jobless claims fell 8,000 to 221,000 for the latest week. However, economists were expecting a reading of 220,000.

U.S. trade deficit increased 8.4% to $55.5 billion in May. U.S. exports rose 2% to $210.6 billion, while imports increased 3.3% to $266.2 billion in May.

The IHS Markit US Services PMI rose to 51.5 in June, compared to a preliminary estimate of 50.7.

U.S. factory orders fell 0.7% for May, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.5% decline.

The ISM's non-manufacturing index fell to 55.1 in June, versus a reading of 56.9 in May. However, economists were expecting a reading of 55.9.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The EIA’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 12:00 p.m. ET.