Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Target Beats Q2 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.91% to 26199.25 while the NASDAQ rose 0.98% to 8,026.71. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.80% to 2,923.68.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose 1.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Target Corporation TGT, up 19%, and GSX Techedu Inc. GSX, up 9%.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares rose by just 0.2%.

Top Headline

Target Corporation TGT reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised FY19 EPS guidance.

Target reported second-quarter earnings of $1.82 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.62. The company reported quarterly sales of $18.42 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $18.34 billion. Target raised fiscal year 2019 guidance from $5.75-$6.05 to $5.90-$6.20.

Equities Trading UP

SemiLEDs Corporation LEDS shares shot up 58% to $3.57 after the company announced that Xian Chang Ma would buy 680,000 of the company shares at $3 per share.

Shares of Myomo, Inc. MYO got a boost, shooting up 43% to $1.0184 after the company announced a technology licensing program for its MyoPro in international markets.

Target Corporation TGT shares were also up, gaining 18% to $100.96 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales and raised FY19 guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

American Resources Corporation AREC shares tumbled 38% to $1.311 after the company reported proposed public offering of common stock and warrants.

Shares of The Children's Place, Inc. PLCE were down 9% to $70.75 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales results. The company also issued Q3 and FY19 EPS guidance below analyst estimates.

MSG Networks Inc. MSGN was down, falling 11% to $15.06 after the company reported downbeat Q4 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $56.75, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,511.10.

Silver traded down 0.4% Wednesday to $17.08, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.578.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.8%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 1.2%, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.5% while UK shares rose 1.1%.

Economics

U.S. existing home sales rose 2.5% to an annual rate of 5.42 million in July. Economists were expecting a 5.39 million rate.

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 Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.