Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Fastenal Beats Q3 Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 1.47% to 26886.55 while the NASDAQ rose 1.71% to 8086.57. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.51% to 2982.64.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrial shares climbed 2.1% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Fastenal Company FAST, up 14%, and Meritor, Inc. MTOR, up 7%.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

Fastenal Company FAST reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Fastenal reported third-quarter earnings of 37 cents per share Friday, beating the analyst consensus estimate by a penny. The company reported quarterly sales of $1.379 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.37 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. SES shares shot up 79% to $3.20 after the company announced it has purchased Austalian Future Energy for $36 million.

Shares of Fastenal Company FAST surged 15% to $35.81 after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. ACRS was up, rising 18% to $1.40 after the company announced it has divested Rhofade. The divestiture of RHOFADE is a key component of Aclaris' recently announced strategic plan to refocus resources on the development of its immuno-inflammatory development programs.

Equities Trading DOWN

Yandex N.V. YNDX shares tumbled 14% to $30.43 after a media report on concerns over draft law on limiting foreign ownership.

Shares of The ExOne Company XONE were down 13% to $7.19 after the company issued weak sales guidance. The company said it expects Q3 sales of $10 million to $11 million, versus prior guidance of 'modest' growth from Q2 sales of $15.3 million. ExOne projects FY19 sales growth to be lower than its previous forecast.

Viveve Medical, Inc. VIVE was down, falling 10% to $3.25 after filing for the sale of new common stock.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $54.27, while gold traded down 0.8% to $1,489.30.

Silver traded down 0.6% Friday to $17.50, while copper fell 0.2% to $2.6085.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.7%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.2%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.1%, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.2% while UK shares rose 0.8%.

Economics

U.S. import prices rose 0.2% in September, versus a revised 0.2% decline in August. Export prices slipped 0.2% in September, versus a 0.6% drop in the prior month.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 96 in October, versus a reading of 93.2 in the previous month.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren will speak in Madison, Wisconsin at 1:15 p.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in San Francisco, CA at 3:00 p.m. ET.