Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Apple Earnings Beat Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.25 percent to 22,018.62 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.14 percent to 6,372.03. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.01 percent to 2,476.66.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the technology sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Glu Mobile Inc. GLUU and Apple Inc. AAPL.

In trading on Wednesday, telecommunications services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.41 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Shenandoah Telecommunications Company SHEN, down 3 percent, and PLDT Inc (ADR) PHI, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Apple reported Q3 earnings of $1.67 per share, beating estimates by 10 cents. Sales came in at $45.4 billion, topping estimates by $510 million.

Per usual, it was all eyes on iPhone sales, which came in at 41 million units. Apple sold 11.42 million iPad units and 4.29 million Mac units.

Equities Trading UP

Systemax Inc. SYX shares shot up 20 percent to $23.00 as the company reported stronger-than-expected Q2 results.

Shares of Manitowoc Company Inc MTW got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $6.62. Manitowoc is expected to release Q2 earnings on August 7. Baird upgraded Manitowoc from Neutral to Outperform.

PharMerica Corporation PMC shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $28.88 as the company agreed to be acquired by KKR for $29.25 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC shares dropped 24 percent to $15.90 following a poor outlook. The company said that it expects to lose $1.34 to $1.36 per share (after earning $0.24 per share last year) in the second quarter on revenue of $1.2 billion to $1.204 billion versus Wall Street's expectations for $1.26 billion.

Shares of RadiSys Corporation RSYS were down 25 percent to $1.82. Radisys reported Q2 adjusted loss of $0.06 per share on sales of $35.1 million. For the current quarter, RadiSys projects a loss of $0.13 per share to a loss of $0.09 per share, and revenue of $26 million to $30 million.

MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc MTSI was down, falling around 22 percent to $47.91 as the company posted weaker-than-expected Q3 earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.04 percent to $49.18 while gold traded down 0.53 percent to $1,272.60.

Silver traded down 0.62 percent Wednesday to $16.66, while copper fell 0.12 percent to $2.8775.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.48 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.16 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.14 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.12 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.34 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity declined 2.8 percent for the latest week.

Private sector employers added 178,000 jobs in July, ADP reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 185,000 jobs.

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

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in Cincinnati at 11:00 a.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in Las Vegas at 3:30 p.m. ET.