Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Kroger Posts Mixed Q2 Results

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.37% to 27236.49 while the NASDAQ rose 0.74% to 8229.82. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.47% to 3015.02.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 1.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cambium Networks Corporation CMBM, up 5%, and International Money Express, Inc. IMXI, up 6%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Kroger Co KR reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views.

Second-quarter earnings came in at 44 cents per share, beating estimates of 41 cents. Sales came in at $28.17 billion, versus estimates by $28.38 billion.

Kroger plans to continue to reduce costs and says it is on track to deliver $100 million in incremental operating profit through alternative profit stream growth. Kroger maintained its 2019 outlook.

Equities Trading UP

Sintx Technologies, Inc. SINT shares shot up 96% to $2.94 after Ascendiant Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $3 price target.

Shares of MDJM Ltd. MDJH got a boost, shooting up 17% to $3.06 after the company reported results for the first six month of fiscal year 2019.

Moderna, Inc. MRNA shares were also up, gaining 16% to $18.39 after the company reported positive results on its Phase 1 CMV Vaccine study and is moving forward to its mRNA-1647 dose confirmation Phase 2.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tocagen Inc. TOCA shares tumbled 79% to $0.8901 following an adverse clinical trial readout. Tocagen, a thinly traded nano-cap biotech, said Thursday morning a Phase 3 TOCA 5 study evaluating Toca 511 and Toca FC in patients with recurrent, high-grade glioma undergoing resection missed the primary endpoint of overall survival compared to the standard of care.

Shares of Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. ADVM were down 26% to $8.91 after the company reported data from the first cohort of OPTIC phase 1 trial of ADVM-022 intravitreal gene therapy to treat wet AMD.

Tailored Brands, Inc. TLRD was down, falling 24% to $5.46 after the company issued Q3 EPS guidance below analyst estimates. The company also suspended its quarterly dividend.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $55.26, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,511.70.

Silver traded up 0.7% Thursday to $18.295, while copper rose 1.6% to $2.6575.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.1% and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.1% while UK shares rose 0.1%.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% for August, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1% increase.

U.S. initial jobless claims fell 15,000 to 204,000 for the latest week. However, analysts were expecting a 215,000 reading.

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

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for August will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.