Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; J M Smucker Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.09 percent to 17,721.73 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.05 percent to 5,077.83. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 2,083.48. Leading and Lagging Sectors In trading on Thursday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 0.86 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Keurig Green Mountain Inc GMCR, up 20 percent, and J M Smucker Co SJM, up 5 percent. Healthcare shares slipped by 0.26 percent in Thursday's trading. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Edap Tms SA (ADR) EDAP, down 7 percent, and Community Health Systems CYH, off 9 percent. Top Headline J M Smucker Co SJM reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter on Thursday. The Orrville, Ohio-based company posted quarterly net income of $176 million, or $1.47 per share, versus $158.3 million, or $1.55 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Its non-GAAP earnings came in at $1.62 per share for the latest quarter. Its sales climbed 40 percent to $2.08 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.51 per share on revenue of $2.08 billion. Equities Trading UP Gold Fields Limited (ADR) GFI shares shot up 19 percent to $2.58. Gold Fields reported normalised earnings of US$22 million for the third quarter. Shares of Keurig Green Mountain Inc GMCR got a boost, shooting up 20 percent to $48.71 after the company reported upbeat results for its fiscal fourth quarter and lifted its dividend. Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (ADR) CTRP shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $108.09. Ctrip reported Q3 earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $528.001 million. Equities Trading DOWN Kirkland's, Inc. KIRK shares tumbled 28 percent to $14.50 after the company reported downbeat Q3 earnings and lowered its FY16 earnings forecast. Shares of JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. JKS were down 12 percent to $22.03. JinkoSolar reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $1.28 per ADS on revenue of $637.6 million. Valero Energy Partners LP VLP was down, falling 8 percent to $45.59 after the company priced 4.3 million units at $46.25 per unit. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.57 percent to $40.11, while gold traded up 0.12 percent to $1,070.00. Silver traded up 0.14 percent Thursday to $14.14, while copper fell 0.50 percent to $2.07. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.83 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index jumped 1.06 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.55 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.34 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.52 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.93 percent. Economics US jobless claims slipped 5,000 to 271,000 in the week ended November 14. Economists were expecting claims to drop to 271,000 in the week. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index gained to 1.9 in November. However, economists were expecting a reading of -1. The leading economic index rose 0.60 percent in October, versus economists' expectations for a 0.50 percent growth.