Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; General Electric Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.04% to 27,082.71 while the NASDAQ fell 0.05% to 8272.60. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.06% to 3,035.17.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PG&E Corporation PCG, up 17%, and MDU Resources Group, Inc. MDU, up 4%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

General Electric Company GE reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

The company reported EPS at 15 cents per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 11 cents. Sales came in at $23.36 billion, ahead of the $22.93 billion estimate.


Equities Trading UP

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation BGFV shares shot up 2% to $3.1099 after reporting a third-quarter earnings beat. The company also issued strong 2019 earnings guidance.

Shares of Mattel, Inc. MAT surged 19% to $12.58 after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter. The company also announced its CFO search.

PG&E Corporation PCG shares gained 20% to $6.04 after the company confirmed that it has restored power to nearly 73% of the 973,000 customers impacted by the Oct. 26 Public Safety Power Shutoff.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc. CYCN shares tumbled 79% to $2.835 after the company reported its Phase 2 study of praliciguat in diabetic nephropathy did not reach statistical significance on its primary endpoint.

Shares of Quad/Graphics, Inc. QUAD were down 48% to $5.86 after the company reported Q3 results and lowered its FY19 net sales guidance.

Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP was down, falling 31% to $10.77 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $55.34, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,495.40.

Silver traded up 0.3% Wednesday to $17.875, while copper fell 0.4% to $2.6815.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.3%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.2%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.3% while UK shares fell 0.1%

Economics

Payroll processor ADP reported that 125,000 private-sector jobs were created in October,.

The U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 1.9% in the third quarter.

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 FOMC will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold press briefing at 2:30 p.m. ET.