Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Twitter Q4 Sales Miss Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.18 percent to 20,090.78 while the NASDAQ gained 0.27 percent to 5,697.89. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19 percent to 2,299.10.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 0.67 percent in trading on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included FleetCor Technologies, Inc. FLT, and Flotek Industries Inc FTK.

In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares dropped by 0.10 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Coeur Mining Inc CDE, down 11 percent, and Clearwater Paper Corp CLW, down 8 percent.

Top Headline

Twitter Inc TWTR better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but sales missed expectations. The company also issued a tepid outlook.

The company reported a GAAP net loss of $167 million, or $0.23 per share for the fourth quarter. Excluding $101 million in restructuring costs, adjusted net income came in at $119 million, or $0.16 a share. Analysts expected earnings of $0.12 per share.

Its sales came in at $717 million, missed analysts’ estimates of $740 million. Looking ahead, Twitter still expects its revenue growth will continue to lag audience growth in 2017 and could now be further impacted by escalating competition for digital ad spending.

Equities Trading UP

Sky Solar Holdings Ltd (ADR) SKYS shares shot up 52 percent to $2.73 after reporting better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Shares of Marchex, Inc. MCHX got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $3.24 after the company disclosed a partnership with Facebook Inc FB.

Aqua Metals Inc AQMS shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $14.27. Johnson Controls International plc JCI and Aqua Metals announced a break-through battery recycling technology partnership.

Equities Trading DOWN

Moleculin Biotech Inc MBRX shares dropped 19 percent to $1.21. Moleculin reported the pricing of its $5 million underwritten public offering.

Shares of Matrix Service Co MTRX were down around 16 percent to $17.80 after the company reported weak Q2 results.

Sterling Construction Company, Inc. STRL was down, falling around 15 percent to $8.03. Sterling Construction reported a preliminary Q4 loss of $0.22 to $0.26 per share on revenue of $165 million to $170 million. KeyBanc downgraded Sterling Construction from Overweight to Sector Weight.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.18 percent to $52.96 while gold traded up 0.15 percent to $1,241.30.

Silver traded up 0.31 percent Thursday to $17.76, while copper fell 0.02 percent to $2.67.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.52 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.12 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.35 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.56 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.19 percent.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims dropped 12,000 to 234,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 250,000 in the week.

Data on wholesale inventories for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

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

The Treasury will auction 30-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak in Chicago, Ill. at 1:10 p.m. ET.

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