Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Caterpillar Earnings Miss Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.42% to 27,233.83 while the NASDAQ rose 0.13% to 8,262.3. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04% to 3,006.75.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 0.9% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included U.S. Well Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: USWS), up 6%, and Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (NYSE: BCEI), up 5%.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported downbeat earnings for its second quarter.

Caterpillar reported second-quarter earnings of $2.83 per share, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $3.12. The company reported quarterly sales of $14.432 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $14.44 billion by 0.06%.

Equities Trading UP

SigmaTron International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMA) shares shot up 27% to $3.33 after the company reported Q4 results.

Shares of Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH) got a boost, shooting up 20% to $87.56 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also raised FY19 EPS and sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE: TER) shares were also up, gaining 16% to $55.67 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also issued Q3 EPS and sales guidance on the high end of analyst estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCSG) shares tumbled 22% to $23.58 after reporting downbeat Q2 results.

Shares of iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) were down 21% to $71.25 after the company reported Q2 EPS and sales results down from last year. The company also issued FY19 sales guidance below analyst estimates.

Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) was down, falling 17% to $14.71 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results and lowered its guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $57.42, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,425.30.

Silver traded up 0.7% Wednesday to $16.59, while copper rose 0.7% to $2.7195.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.04%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.46%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.48%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.37%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.19% while UK shares fell 0.57%.

Economics

The IHS Markit flash U.S. services PMI increased to 52.2 in July versus 51.5, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.0 in July versus 50.6.

New home sales increased 7% to 646,000 last month.

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

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.