Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Ciena Earnings Top Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.95% to 28175.26 while the NASDAQ rose 0.94% to 8,735.16. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.95% to 3,171.60.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.4% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Oceaneering International OII, up 10%, and Adams Resources & Energy Inc AE, up 5%.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

Ciena Corporation CIEN reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.

CIENA posted quarterly earnings of $0.58 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $0.63 per share. Its sales came in at $968 million, versus expectations of $964.29 million.

Equities Trading UP

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated DBD shares shot up 31% to $10.10 after the company reaffirmed FY19 guidance and issued FY20 guidance.

Shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMRX got a boost, shooting up 28% to $4.4522 after the company announced it has received abbreviated new drug application approval from the FDA for EluRyng.

Aprea Therapeutics, Inc. APRE shares were also up, gaining 19% to $42.31. Aprea Therapeutics highlighted presentation of APR-246 data at the ASH 2019 Meeting.

Equities Trading DOWN

RiceBran Technologies RIBT shares tumbled 29% to $1.47 after the company announced a proposed public offering of common stock.

Shares of Camber Energy, Inc. CEI were down 19% to $1.6561 as a potential sell-off after the stock increased roughly 260% over the last 2 trading sessions.

Gritstone Oncology, Inc. GRTS was down, falling 15% to $9.82 after the company presented initial safety data from the Phase 1 study of GRANITE-001 in solid tumors as well as initial safety data from the Phase 1 data for SLATE-001 in solid tumors.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $59.04, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,479.40.

Silver traded up 0.5% Thursday to $16.925, while copper fell 0.3% to $2.7825.

Euro zone


European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.4%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.1%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.1% while UK shares rose 0.6%.

Economics

Initial jobless claims rose 49,000 to 252,000 for the latest week.

The Producer Price Index was flat for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2% rise.

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.

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