Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Tiffany Earnings Beat Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.21% to 25830.88 while the NASDAQ fell 0.03% to 7,824.69. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.21% to 2875.17.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tallgrass Energy, LP TGE, up 35%, and Seadrill Limited SDRL, up 11%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

Tiffany & Co. TIF reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views.

Tiffany reported second-quarter earnings of $1.12 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.05. The company reported quarterly sales of $1 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Tiffany’s worldwide comparable sales fell 3% on constant exchange rate basis.

Equities Trading UP

MDJM Ltd. MDJH shares shot up 72% to $4.2923 after the company disclosed that it entered into a Primary Real Estate Agency Services Contract with Taida Xincheng (Chengdu) Real Estate Co., Ltd.

Shares of Lannett Company, Inc. LCI got a boost, shooting up 41% to $8.51 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results and issued FY20 sales guidance above analyst estimates. The company also announced a distribution agreement with Sinotherapeutics.

Tallgrass Energy, LP TGE shares were also up, gaining 35% to $19.34 after the company announced it received a non-binding preliminary proposal letter from Blackstone Infrastructure Partners to take the company private for $19.50 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Phibro Animal Health Corporation PAHC shares tumbled 25% to $23.65 after the company reported weak Q4 EPS and sales results and issued weak FY20 EPS guidance. The company also announced it does not expected therapeutic claims for swine in China to be approved prior to 2021.

Shares of Movado Group, Inc. MOV were down 18% to $20.50 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued downbeat FY20 forecast.

Autodesk, Inc. ADSK was down, falling 12% to $132.69 after the company issued Q3 EPS and sales guidance below analyst estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.4% to $55.69, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,555.90.

Silver traded up 1.5% Wednesday to $18.43, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.5465.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.9%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.5%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.5%. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.2% and the French CAC 40 dropped 1.1% while UK shares fell 0.3%.

Economics

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. for the latest week 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.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly is set to speak in Wellington, New Zealand at 5:30 p.m. ET.