Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Schlumberger Tops Q4 Views

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.17% to 29346.02 while the NASDAQ rose 0.22% to 9,377.27. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24% to 3,324.93.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares climbed 0.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Celsius Holdings, Inc. CELH, up 4%, and 111 Inc - ADR YI, up 4%.

In trading on Friday, health care shares fell 0.1%.

Top Headline

Schlumberger Limited SLB reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Schlumberger reported fourth-quarter earnings of $0.39 per share Wednesday, beating the Street estimate of $0.37 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $8.2 billion, beating the Street estimate of $8.15 billion.

Equities Trading UP

iMedia Brands, Inc. IMBI shares shot up 55% to $4.8945 after the company reported the launch of Shaquille O'Neal's Invicta collection on ShopHQ.

Shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. PLAY got a boost, shooting up 14% to $47.89 following news of a new stake by KKR. The firm showed a 6.3% stake in the company.

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. BLCM shares were also up, gaining 13% to $2.37.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aethlon Medical, Inc. AEMD shares tumbled 28% to $1.98 after the company reported a 1.885 million share common stock offering at $2 per share.

Shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. MGPI were down 25% to $39.40 after the company issued FY19 EPS and sales guidance below analyst estimates. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $80 to $55 per share.

Cemtrex, Inc. CETX was down, falling 17% to $2.0910 after rising 37.91% on Thursday.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4% to $58.74, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,556.30.

Silver traded up 0.7% Friday to $18.07, while copper rose 0.8% to $2.871.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.9%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.3%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.7% Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.7%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.9% while UK shares rose 1%.

Economics

U.S. housing starts rose 16.9% for December to an annual rate of 1.608 million units. Building permits slipped 3.9% to an annual rate of 1.416 million in December.

U.S. industrial production fell 0.3% in December, versus a revised 0.8% rise in November.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 99.1 in January, versus a reading of 99.3 in the previous month.

U.S. job openings slipped to 6.9 million in November, versus 7.36 million in the previous month, the Labor Department reported.

Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET.

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