Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; PepsiCo Profit Beats Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.08 percent to 20,520.17 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.05 percent to 5,785.48. However, the S&P fell 0.05 percent to 2,336.34.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.55 percent in trading on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 0.64 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. HE, down 5 percent, and SJW Group SJW, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

PepsiCo, Inc. PEP reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

PepsiCo earned $1.20 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $19.52 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.16 per share on revenue of $19.51 billion.

PepsiCo guided its full fiscal year 2017 earnings per share to be $5.09, which fell short of the $5.16 per share analysts were expecting.

Equities Trading UP

Evoke Pharma Inc EVOK shares shot up 51 percent to $3.95 after the company disclosed that the FDA has exempted the company from requirement for a Human Factor Validation Study.

Shares of Cinedigm Corp CIDM got a boost, shooting up 58 percent to $2.12 following Q3 results. Cinedigm posted consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $11.5 million on revenue of $24.4 million.

Fortress Investment Group LLC FIG shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $7.99. SoftBank Group agreed to acquire Fortress Investment for $8.08 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. SINO shares dropped 23 percent to $3.41. Sino-Global reported a $4.77 million registered direct offering.

Shares of Fossil Group Inc FOSL were down around 17 percent to $18.88. Fossil Group reported lower earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Auris Medical Holding AG EARS was down, falling around 19 percent to $0.930 after the company reported the pricing of $10 million offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.34 percent to $53.53 while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,222.30.

Silver traded down 0.22 percent Wednesday to $17.85, while copper rose 0.07 percent to $2.74.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.21 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.52 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.35 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.34 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.35 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index gained 0.6 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth.

U.S. retail sales increased 0.4 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent gain.

The Empire State manufacturing index increased to 18.70 in February, versus a prior reading of 6.50. Economists projected a reading of 7.00.

U.S. industrial production declined 0.3 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent growth.

U.S. business inventories rose 0.4 percent for December, versus economists’ estimates of 0.4 percent gain.

The NAHB housing market index slipped to 65.00 in February, versus a prior reading of 67.00. Economists projected a reading of 67.00.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Harker will speak at 12:45 p.m. ET.

The Treasury International Capital data for December will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in New York at 7:15 p.m. ET.