Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Caterpillar Earnings Miss Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.42% to 27,233.83 while the NASDAQ rose 0.13% to 8,262.3. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04% to 3,006.75.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 0.9% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included U.S. Well Services, Inc. USWS, up 6%, and Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. BCEI, up 5%.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

Caterpillar CAT reported downbeat earnings for its second quarter.

Caterpillar reported second-quarter earnings of $2.83 per share, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $3.12. The company reported quarterly sales of $14.432 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $14.44 billion by 0.06%.

Equities Trading UP

SigmaTron International, Inc. SGMA shares shot up 27% to $3.33 after the company reported Q4 results.

Shares of Manhattan Associates, Inc. MANH got a boost, shooting up 20% to $87.56 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also raised FY19 EPS and sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Teradyne, Inc. TER shares were also up, gaining 16% to $55.67 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also issued Q3 EPS and sales guidance on the high end of analyst estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. HCSG shares tumbled 22% to $23.58 after reporting downbeat Q2 results.

Shares of iRobot Corporation IRBT were down 21% to $71.25 after the company reported Q2 EPS and sales results down from last year. The company also issued FY19 sales guidance below analyst estimates.

Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP was down, falling 17% to $14.71 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results and lowered its guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $57.42, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,425.30.

Silver traded up 0.7% Wednesday to $16.59, while copper rose 0.7% to $2.7195.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.04%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.46%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.48%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.37%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.19% while UK shares fell 0.57%.

Economics

The IHS Markit flash U.S. services PMI increased to 52.2 in July versus 51.5, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.0 in July versus 50.6.

New home sales increased 7% to 646,000 last month.

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 Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.