Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Netflix Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 19,804.80 while the NASDAQ gained 0.27 percent to 5,570.46. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.02 percent to 2,272.40.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrials shares gained around 0.42 percent in trading on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Arotech Corporation ARTX, and WNS (Holdings) Limited (ADR) WNS.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell by 0.55 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Ormat Technologies, Inc. ORA, down 2 percent, and Sempra Energy SRE, down 1.5 percent.

Top Headline

Netflix, Inc. NFLX reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

Netflix reported Q4 EPS of $0.15 on revenue of $2.48 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 0.14 per share on revenue of.$2.47 billion.

The company added 1.93 million domestic subscribers and 5.12 million subscribers internationally during the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

CSX Corporation CSX shares shot up 16 percent to $42.83 following a report that outgoing Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) CP CEO Hunter Harrison has teamed up with activist investor Paul Hilal to target a purchase of the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded CSX from Underweight to Equal-Weight.

Shares of Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc CATB got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $4.94 after the company disclosed that its Phase 1 data on edasalonexent has been published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Oclaro, Inc. OCLR shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $9.41 after the company reported strong preliminary results for its second quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc ZYNE shares dropped 16 percent to $18.95 after the company reported a proposed public offering of common stock.

Shares of GNC Holdings Inc GNC were down around 13 percent to $9.74. Goldman Sachs downgraded GNC from Neutral to Sell.

DryShips Inc. DRYS was down, falling around 23 percent to $1.23. DryShips reported a 1-for-8 reverse stock split.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.10 percent to $52.46 while gold traded down 0.86 percent to $1,201.70.

Silver traded down 2.40 percent Thursday to $16.86, while copper fell 0.08 percent to $2.61.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.09 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.24 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.47 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.09 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.16 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.40 percent.

Economics

Housing starts rose 11.3 percent in December to an annual pace of 1.23 million. Economists expected a rate of 1.2 million for December.

Initial jobless claims dropped 15,000 to 234,000 in the week ended January 14. However, economists were projecting claims to reach 245,000 in the week.

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose to 23.60 in January, versus a prior reading of 21.50. Economists estimated a reading of 15.80.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John C. Williams is set to speak in Fairfield, Calif. at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The EIA’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to speak in Stanford, Calif. at 8:00 p.m. ET.