Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Alphabet Sales Miss Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 1.53 percent to 24,601.71 while the NASDAQ declined 2.81 percent to 7,112.33. The S&P also fell, dropping 2.24 percent to 2,644.94.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the utilities shares slipped by just 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras EBR up 4 percent, and Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais CIG up 3 percent.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares tumbled 3.4 percent.

Top Headline

Alphabet Inc GOOG reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates.

Earnings came in at $13.06, beating estimates by $2.60. Sales came in at $33.74 billion, missing estimates by $290 million.

Equities Trading UP

DMC Global Inc. BOOM shares shot up 15 percent to $36.91 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and raised its FY18 EPS outlook.

Shares of Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. MLNX got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $82.74. Mellanox Technologies has hired a financial adviser to explore a sale after receiving takeover interest from at least two companies, CNBC reported.

National Instruments Corporation NATI shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $49.14 after the company posted upbeat Q3 results. National Instruments named Eric Starkloff as President and COO.

Equities Trading DOWN

Flex Ltd. FLEX shares dropped 33 percent to $7.36 after the company reported mixed Q2 earnings and issued weak FY19 guidance.

Shares of Lattice Semiconductor Corporation LSCC were down 17 percent to $5.85. Lattice Semiconductor posted upbeat Q3 earnings, while sales missed views.

Proofpoint, Inc. PFPT was down, falling around 20 percent to $79.66 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results and announced executive departures.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.95 percent to $66.69 while gold traded up 0.38 percent to $1,237.10.

Silver traded up 0.44 percent Friday to $14.695, while copper fell 1.07 to $2.725.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.85 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.85 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.24 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1 percent, and the French CAC 40 dipped 1.65 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.33 percent.

Economics

U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 3.5 percent in the third quarter, versus 4.2 percent pace in the previous three months. However, economists were expecting a 3.3 percent growth rate.

The final reading of University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 98.6 for October, versus 100.1 in the previous month and preliminary reading of 99.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.