Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Best Buy Sales Miss Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.16 percent to 21,053.51 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.02 percent to 5,884.59. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.03 percent to 2,388.08.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Basic materials shares climbed by 1.63 percent in trading on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Arconic Inc ARNC, and Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (ADR) ACH.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 0.61 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included FirstEnergy Corp. FE, down 3 percent, and NextEra Energy Inc NEE, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Best Buy Co Inc BBY reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but sales missed estimates. The company also issued weak earnings forecast for the current quarter.

Best Buy reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $1.95 per share on revenue of $13.482 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.67 per share on revenue of $13.62 billion.

Best Buy expects Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.35 to $0.40 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.49 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Stone Energy Corporation SGY shares shot up 267 percent to $25.50. On Tuesday, Stone Energy reported the successful completion of financial restructuring and emergence from bankruptcy. National Securities upgraded Stone Energy to Buy.

Shares of Dynavax Technologies Corporation DVAX got a boost, shooting up 56 percent to $7.00 after the company reported the FDA acceptance for review of its November's HEPLISAV-B CRL.

Skyline Medical Inc SKLN shares were also up, gaining 44 percent to $2.75 as the company disclosed that it has been awarded an Innovative Technology contract from Vizient for STREAMWAY System.

Equities Trading DOWN

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc BW shares dropped 40 percent to $9.97. Babcock & Wilcox reported Q4 adjusted loss of $1.60 per share on revenue of $380 million. KeyBanc downgraded Babcock & Wilcox from Overweight to Sector Weight.

Shares of Impax Laboratories Inc IPXL were down around 29 percent to $10.18. Impax Labs reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.16 per share on revenue of $198.4 million.

Palo Alto Networks Inc PANW was down, falling around 21 percent to $119.48. Palo Alto posted upbeat Q2 earnings, but sales missed expectations. The company also issued a weak forecast for the current quarter. JP Morgan downgraded Palo Alto from Overweight to Neutral, while Baird downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.33 percent to $54.19 while gold traded down 1.25 percent to $1,238.20.

Silver traded down 0.83 percent Wednesday to $18.32, while copper rose 1.20 percent to $2.75.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.18 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.82 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 2.22 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 1.54 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.77 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.32 percent.

Economics

Data on motor vehicle sales for February will be released today.

U.S. consumer spending rose 0.2 percent in January, while incomes increased 0.4 percent. Economists were expecting a 0.3 percent gain in both spending and income.

The ISM manufacturing index rose to 57.70 in February, versus a prior reading of 56.00. Economists projected a reading of 56.00.

U.S. construction spending declined 1.00 percent for January, versus economists’ expectaions for a 0.60 percent gain.

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

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Dallas, Texas at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard will speak at the Kennedy School at Harvard University at 6:00 p.m. ET.