Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Deere Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.29 percent to 20,560.68 while the NASDAQ declined 0.10 percent to 5,809.26. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.22 percent to 2,342.03.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.77 percent in trading on Friday.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 0.61 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included CIRCOR International, Inc. CIR, down 9 percent, and Cloud Peak Energy Inc. CLD, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Deere & Company DE reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and lifted its outlook for fiscal 2017.

Deere’s quarterly net income dropped to $193.8 million, or $0.61 per share, compared to $254.4 million, or $0.80 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Its total net sales declined around 1.5 percent to $4.70 billion. Analysts were projecting earnings of $0.53 per share on revenue $4.67 billion.

Equities Trading UP

LMI Aerospace, Inc. LMIA shares shot up 49 percent to $13.65 after the company agreed to be acquired by Sonaca Group for $14 per share in an all-cash transaction.

Shares of Arista Networks Inc ANET got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $115.65 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued a strong outlook for the current quarter.

Unilever plc (ADR) UL shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $46.62 after the company was named as an acquisition target. According to the Financial Times, the American giant Kraft Heinz Co KHC confirmed it has offered to acquire Unilever for £112 billion, or roughly $139 billion. The Financial Times added that Unilever declined the proposal, but Kraft Heinz is willing to work with Unilever to reach an agreement.

Equities Trading DOWN

X T L Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ADR) XTLB shares dropped 38 percent to $2.22 after the company reported a $2.5 million registered direct offering.

Shares of Amber Road Inc AMBR were down around 17 percent to $7.71. Amber Road reported Q4 adjusted loss of $0.10 per share on revenue of $19.2 million.

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. NUS was down, falling around 11 percent to $49.36 after the company reported downbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.45 percent to $53.51 while gold traded up 0.11 percent to $1,243.00.

Silver traded down 0.31 percent Friday to $18.09, while copper fell 1.06 percent to $2.71.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.42 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.11 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.13 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.43 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.05 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.24 percent.

Economics

Data on e-commerce sales for the fourth quarter will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The index of leading economic indicators for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

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