Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Cardinal Health Earnings Beat Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.7% to 27684.54 while the NASDAQ rose 0.61% to 8,462.22. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.51% to 3,092.46.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.4% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. NEX, up 28%, and Ring Energy, Inc. REI, up 13%.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter.

Cardinal Health reported quarterly earnings of $1.27 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.09 per share. The company posted quarterly sales of $37.3 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $36.75 billion.

Cardinal Health reaffirmed its FY20 adjusted earnings forecast of $4.85 to $5.10 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Invacare Corporation IVC shares shot up 32% to $10.44 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings.

Shares of Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc COLL got a boost, shooting up 30% to $17.82 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS.

NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. NEX shares were also up, gaining 28% to $5.22 following Q3 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Party City Holdco Inc. PRTY shares tumbled 60% to $2.46 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results. The company also cut its FY19 EPS and sales guidance below analyst estimates.

Shares of Top Ships Inc. TOPS were down 55% to $1.2801. TOP Ships priced 4.2 million share common stock offering at $2 per share.

ObsEva SA OBSV was down, falling 44% to $4.51. Obseva said the results from the Phase 2 European confirmatory study of nolasiban in women undergoing embryo transfer following in-vitro fertilization did not meet the primary endpoint of an increase in ongoing pregnancy rate at 10 weeks.
 

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded u 1.4% to $57.11, while gold traded down 0.5% to $1,486.10.

Silver traded down 0.1% Thursday to $17.575, while copper rose 1.4% to $2.7015.

Euro zone


European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.3%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.6%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.7%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.2% while UK shares rose 0.3%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims fell 8,000 to 211,000 for the latest week. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 215,000.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage 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.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Dallas, TX at 1:05 p.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for September will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will speak in New York at 7:10 p.m. ET.

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