Mid-Day Market Update: Pitney Bowes Drops On Earnings Miss; Lumber Liquidators Shares Climb

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.36 percent to 21,970.56 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.23 percent to 6,362.96. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.18 percent to 2,474.67.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the telecommunications services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Sprint Corp S and Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc ALSK.

In trading on Tuesday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.23 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included GenMark Diagnostics, Inc GNMK, down 15 percent, and Geron Corporation GERN, down 12 percent.

Top Headline

Pfizer Inc. PFE reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY 2017 earnings guidance. However, the company’s quarterly sales missed analysts’ estimates.

Pfizer posted Q2 earnings of $0.67 per share on sales of $12.9 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.66 per share on sales of $13.1 billion.

Pfizer raised its FY 2017 earnings guidance to $2.54 to $2.60 per share, versus earlier forecast of $2.50 to $2.60 per share.

Equities Trading UP

CombiMatrix Corp CBMX shares shot up 40 percent to $7.05 as the company disclosed that it has entered into a merger agreement with InVitae Corp NVTA.

Shares of Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc LL got a boost, shooting up 29 percent to $32.02 as the company posted stronger-than-expected Q2 results.

Columbus McKinnon Corp. CMCO shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $30.91 as the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Kona Grill Inc KONA shares dropped 25 percent to $2.00 following Q2 results. Kona Grill reported a Q2 loss of $4.3 million on sales of $47 million.

Shares of Precipio Inc PRPO were down 28 percent to $5.94 after the company reported a proposed public offering.

Pitney Bowes Inc. PBI was down, falling around 15 percent to $13.41 as the company posted downbeat Q2 earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.16 percent to $49.59 while gold traded up 0.38 percent to $1,278.20.

Silver traded down 0.13 percent Tuesday to $16.765, while copper fell 0.16 percent to $2.887.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.80 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.07 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.43 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.34 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.95 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.88 percent.

Economics

U.S. consumer spending rose 0.1 percent for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent gain. Personal income growth was unchanged in June.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index dropped 1.2 percent in July.

The Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 53.30 for July, versus prior reading of 53.20. However, economists were expecting a reading of 53.20.

The ISM manufacturing index dropped to 56.30 in July, versus previous reading of 57.80. Economists expected a reading of 56.50.

U.S. construction spending declined 1.30 percent for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.40 percent growth.