Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Facebook Profit Tops Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.65 percent to 24,240.34 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.38 percent to 7,100.47. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.69 percent to 2,657.69.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the information technology shares gained 1.72 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PCM, Inc. PCMI, up 17 percent, and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD, up 13 percent.

In trading on Thursday, telecommunication services shares tumbled 2.72 percent.

Top Headline

Facebook, Inc. FB reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.

The social media company reported Q1 EPS of $1.69 vs. $1.35 estimates and sales of $11.97 billion vs. $11.41 billion estimates. Q1 MAUs came in just ahead of estimates at 2.2 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Comstock Resources, Inc. CRK shares shot up 49 percent to $7.1092 after the company disclosed a deal with Arkoma Drilling L.P. and Williston Drilling, L.P. to buy oil & gas properties in North Dakota. Comstock announced withdrawal of tender offers for outstanding secured notes.

Shares of Mattersight Corporation MATR got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $2.65 after the company agreed to be purchased by NICE Ltd.

MarineMax, Inc. HZO shares were also up, gaining 24 percent to $21.75 as the company posted upbeat Q2 results and raised its FY18 outlook.

Equities Trading DOWN

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. SPB shares dropped 34 percent to $61.87 as the company posted downbeat quarterly earnings. Spectrum Brands named David Maura as CEO and reported a $1 billion buyback plan.

Shares of LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. LMAT were down 17 percent to $32.19 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results.

LKQ Corporation LKQ was down, falling around 16 percent to $31.49 following weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.60 percent to $68.46 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,325.80.

Silver traded up 0.14 percent Thursday to $16.60, while copper fell 0.71 percent to $3.135.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.43 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.40 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.80 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.06 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.51 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.14 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders rose 2.6 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.6 percent gain.

The trade deficit in goods shrank 10.3 percent to $68 billion in March. Economists were expecting a deficit of $73.4 billion. Advanced wholesale inventories rose 0.5 percent in March, while advanced retail inventories slipped 0.4 percent.

Initial jobless claims declined 24,000 to 209,000 in the latest week. Economists projected claims to reach 230,000 last week.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for April will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.