Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Yum! Brands Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.16 percent to 20,916.12 while the NASDAQ declined 0.38 percent to 6,072.34. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.22 percent to 2,385.97.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector was the top gainer in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included Weight Watchers International, Inc. WTW, USANA Health Sciences, Inc. USNA, and Estee Lauder Companies Inc EL.

In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.90 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included P H Glatfelter Co GLT, down 5 percent, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM posted upbeat results for its first quarter on Wednesday.

Yum! Brands said it earned $0.65 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $1.42 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.60 per share on revenue of $1.35 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Eco-Stim Energy Solutions Inc ESES shares shot up 58 percent to $1.64 after the company reported a new long-term contract. The company expects the contract value to exceed $50 million.

Shares of Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc PIRS got a boost, shooting up 46 percent to $3.51 after the company reported a collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop and commercialize Anticalin-based inhaled treatments for respiratory diseases.

Straight Path Communications Inc STRP shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $151.39. Straight Path reported that an all-stock takeover for $135.96/share from a multi-national telecommunications company is a superior offer to AT&T's.

Equities Trading DOWN

DryShips Inc. DRYS shares dropped 37 percent to $0.669. DryShips reported a 1-for-7 stock split. The company is expected to release Q1 results on May 10, 2017.

Shares of Twilio Inc TWLO were down around 27 percent to $24.86. Twilio posted better-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued a weak forecast for the year.

Potbelly Corp PBPB was down, falling around 15 percent to $11.75. Potbelly posted in-line quarterly earnings, while sales missed estimates. The company also issued a weak earnings forecast for FY17. William Blair downgraded Potbelly from Outperform to Market Perform.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.50 percent to $47.90 while gold traded down 0.27 percent to $1,253.60.

Silver traded down 0.81 percent Wednesday to $16.695, while copper fell 3.05 percent to $2.555.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.15 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.05 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.29 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.11 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.20 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.28 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 177,000 jobs in April, ADP reported, versus a revised gain of 255,000 jobs in March. However, economists were expecting an addition of 175,000 jobs for the month.

The Markit services PMI rose to 53.10 in April, versus a prior reading of 52.50. Economists expected a reading of 52.50.

The ISM non-manufacturing index gained to 57.50 for April, versus a previous reading of 55.20. However, economists were projecting a reading of 55.80.

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

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET..