Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Spectrum Brands Beats Q4 Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.04% to 27679.19 while the NASDAQ fell 0.19% to 8469.98. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11% to 3,088.45.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Paranaense de Energia - COPEL ELP, up 4%, and PG&E Corporation PCG, up 3%.

In trading on Wednesday, financial shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc SPB reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Spectrum Brands reported quarterly earnings of $1.13 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.1 per share. Its sales came in at $993 million, versus expectations of $987.21 million.

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Equities Trading UP

Nortech Systems Incorporated NSYS shares shot up 85% to $5.16 after the company reported Q3 results.

Shares of Electromed, Inc. ELMD got a boost, shooting up 31% to $9.33 after the company announced upbeat Q1 results.

Cardlytics, Inc. CDLX shares were also up, gaining 33% to $52.99 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results. The company also issued FY19 sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. APDN shares tumbled 72% to $5.29 after the company reported pricing of upsized $12.0 million underwritten public offering.

Shares of Marker Therapeutics, Inc. MRKR were down 26% to $2.8950 after the company reported Q3 earnings results.

Intelsat S.A. I was down, falling 23% to $15.65 after JP Morgan downgraded the stock from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $34 to $22 per share.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8% to $56.35, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,465.40.

Silver traded up 1.3% Wednesday to $16.915, while copper fell 0.3% to $2.637.

Euro zone


European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.6%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.6%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.3%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.8%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.4% while UK shares fell 0.5%.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% for October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3% increase.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee in Washington, DC at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Tom Barkin is set to speak in Greensboro, North Carolina at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari will speak in La Crosse, Wisconsin at 1:30 p.m. ET.

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

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak in Wilmington, Delaware at 7:30 p.m. ET.