Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Time Warner Tops Q4 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.33 percent to 20,023.40 while the NASDAQ declined 0.43 percent to 5,649.71. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.33 percent to 2,285.62.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 0.63 percent in trading on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares dropped by 0.91 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. HOS, down 12 percent, and Golar LNG Partners LP GMLP, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Time Warner Inc TWX reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Time Warner reported Q4 earnings of $1.25 per share on revenue of $7.89 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.19 per share on revenue of $7.72 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Cellect Biotechnology Ltd. APOP shares shot up 37 percent to $5.70. Cellect Biotech disclosed that it has treated the first blood cancer patient in Phase I/II trial of ApoGraft

Shares of Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc DFFN got a boost, shooting up 26 percent to $5.50. Diffusion Pharmaceuticals disclosed that TSC Phase 1/2 glioblastoma multiforme clinical trial results has been published in the February 2017 edition of Journal of Neurosurgery.

Kforce Inc. KFRC shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $25.15 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Galena Biopharma Inc GALE shares dropped 40 percent to $0.844. Galena Biopharma priced its offering with anticipated gross proceeds of $17 million.

Shares of Tidewater Inc. TDW were down around 32 percent to $1.35. Tidewater reported a Q3 loss of $297.7 million on revenue of $129.2 million.

SPS Commerce, Inc. SPSC was down, falling around 21 percent to $52.20. SPS Commerce posted upbeat Q4 results, but issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.90 percent to $51.70 while gold traded up 0.40 percent to $1,241.00.

Silver traded up 0.25 percent Wednesday to $17.80, while copper rose 1.79 percent to $2.68.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.15 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.20 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.59 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.23 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.09 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.32 percent.

Economics

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will also auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.