Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Up 150 Points; Limbach Holdings Shares Slide

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.55% to 27932.00 while the NASDAQ rose 0.66% to 8,535.20. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.56% to 3,114.06.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares climbed 0.9% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included RadNet, Inc. (NASDAQ: RDNT), up 12%, and Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRSN), up 12%.

In trading on Friday, consumer staples shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE: JCP) reported narrower-than-expected loss for its third quarter.

JC Penney reported third-quarter losses of $0.30 per share on Friday, which beat the analyst consensus estimate for a loss of $0.55 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $2.5 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $2.51 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Farfetch Limited (NYSE: FTCH) shares shot up 28% to $9.57 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results.

Shares of Plus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTV) got a boost, shooting up 22% to $2.91 following Q3 results. Plus Therapeutics reversed from a loss of $27.63 per share in the third quarter of 2018 to a profit of 3 cents per share in the third quarter of 2019.

Senmiao Technology Limited (NASDAQ: AIHS) shares were also up, gaining 234% to $1.42 after the company reported Q2 EPS and sales results up from last year.

Equities Trading DOWN

resTORbio, Inc. (NASDAQ: TORC) shares tumbled 84% to $1.2905 after the company disclosed that its Phase 3 PROTECTOR 1 trial of RTB101 did not meet primary endpoint.

Shares of Limbach Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LMB) were down 40% to $2.8043 after the company announced weak Q3 earnings.

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: YTEN) was down, falling 45% to $0.1496. Yield10 Bioscience priced 12.48 million Class A Units at $0.20 per unit for gross proceeds of $10.75 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $57.20, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,468.80.

Silver traded down 0.4% Friday to $16.955, while copper rose 0.4% to $2.633.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.25%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.02%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.41%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.23%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.48% while UK shares rose 0.01%.

Economics

U.S. retail sales rose 0.3% for October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2% increase.

The New York Empire State manufacturing index fell to 2.9 in November, versus prior reading of 4. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 5.

US import prices declined 0.5% in October, versus a revised 0.1% increase in the prior month. Export prices fell 0.1% in October, versus a 0.2% drop in the previous month.

U.S. industrial production fell 0.8% for October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4% decline.

U.S. business inventories were unchanged for September, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1% rise.

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