Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Nike Beats Q1 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.09% to 26833.22 while the NASDAQ fell 0.37% to 7963.90. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.18% to 2,961.18.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares climbed 0.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Philip Morris International Inc. PM, up 6%, and PriceSmart, Inc. PSMT, up 4%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

Nike Inc NKE reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday.

Earnings came in at 86 cents per share, beating estimates by 16 cents. Sales came in at $10.66 billion, beating estimates by $240 million.
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Equities Trading UP

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PHAS shares shot up 18% to $4.615. PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals said the Phase 2a trial of PB2452, a recombinant, human, monoclonal antibody antigen-binding fragment designed to reverse the antiplatelet activity of AstraZeneca’s Ticagrelor, has been completed.

Shares of SYNNEX Corporation SNX got a boost, shooting up 15% to $109.80 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results. The company also issued Q4 EPS and sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. CMTL shares were also up, gaining 13% to $33.57 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results. The company also issued FY20 sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Titan Medical Inc. TMDI shares tumbled 27% to $1.4992.

Shares of Lannett Company, Inc. LCI were down 19% to $11.28 after the company priced $75 million of convertible senior notes which are due by 2026.

McDermott International, Inc. MDR was down, falling 11% to $1.9122, likely amid profit taking following an 86% rebound from lows after September-18 news the company hired advisors to improve capital structure and its balance sheet sent shares down from $5.90 to a low of $1.40.
 

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.4% to $56.50, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,537.40.

Silver traded down 0.1% Wednesday to $18.625, while copper fell 0.5% to $2.5925.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 1.6%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.1%, and the French CAC 40 dipped 1.5% while UK shares fell 0.8%.

Economics

New home sales increased 7.1% to an annual rate of 713,000 in August. However, analysts were expecting a 660,000 rate.

The State Street Investor Confidence Index for September is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

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

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

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Dallas, Texas at 7:00 p.m. ET.