Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Target Tops Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.06 percent to 20,756.84 while the NASDAQ declined 1.21 percent to 6,094.99. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.03 percent to 2,375.88.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities sector was the top gainer in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included National Grid plc (ADR) NGG, Korea Electric Power Corporation (ADR) KEP, and Unitil Corporation UTL.

In trading on Wednesday, financial shares fell 1.26 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Whitestone REIT WSR, down 7 percent, and Transcontinental Realty Investors Inc TCI, down 9 percent.

Top Headline

Target Corporation TGT reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Target, the second-largest discount retailer in the U.S., earned $1.21 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $16.02 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.91 per share on revenue of $15.62 billion.

Net earnings for the quarter rose from $632 million a year ago to $681 million, while comparable sales fell just 1.3 percent; Analysts were expecting a decrease as much as -3.7 percent. Target guided its second-quarter earnings per share to a range of $0.95 to $1.15 versus $1.00 per share Wall Street analysts were already expecting.

Equities Trading UP

Cemtrex Inc CETX shares shot up 29 percent to $4.07 after the company disclosed that it has received over $21 million in new orders in April.

Shares of Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc SNDX got a boost, shooting up 32 percent to $12.40 after the company reported the advancement of ENCORE 601 in non-small cell lung cancer patients with disease progression on or after PD-1 therapies.

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. RRGB shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $69.30 as the company reported upbeat results for its first quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

bebe stores, inc. BEBE shares dropped 28 percent to $3.77. bebe stores will reportedly license www.bebe.com domain name, social media accts. and international wholesale agreements to one or more third parties, according to Reuters.

Shares of Continental Materials Corporation CUO were down 17 percent to $20.73. Continental Materials reported a Q1 loss of $0.25 per share on sales of $34.103 million.

Photronics, Inc. PLAB was down, falling around 13 percent to $10.02 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.27 percent to $48.79 while gold traded up 0.99 percent to $1,248.70.

Silver traded up 1.06 percent Wednesday to $16.925, while copper fell 0.31 percent to $2.5425.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.46 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.55 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.78 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.43 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.64 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.21 percent.

Economics

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.