Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; Wal-Mart Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 20,608.81 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.48 percent to 6,040.33. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17 percent to 2,360.97.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Healthcare sector was the top gainer in the US market on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACHN, ImmunoGen, Inc. IMGN, and BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. BDSI.

In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares fell 1.72 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (ADR) SID, down 16 percent, and Gerdau SA (ADR) GGB, down 11 percent.

Top Headline

Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Wal-Mart reported earned $1.00 per share in the quarter on revenue of $117.5 billion; Analysts were expecting the world's largest retailer to earn $0.96 per share on revenue of $117.7 billion.

Operating income on a constant currency basis rose 1.3 percent from the same quarter a year ago to $5.343 billion as U.S., partially aided by a 1.4 percent increase in U.S. comps and a 1.5 percent increase in traffic.

Equities Trading UP

athenahealth, Inc ATHN shares shot up 18 percent to $125.74 following a 13D filing from Elliott Associates showing a 9.2 percent stake in the company.

Shares of GlycoMimetics Inc GLYC got a boost, shooting up 38 percent to $7.43 as the company reported that GMI-1271 has received the FDA Breakthrough therapy designation for adult relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

ImmunoGen, Inc. IMGN shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $5.23 as the company disclosed promising new clinical data with mirvetuximab soravtansine in ovarian cancer.

Equities Trading DOWN

Stein Mart, Inc. SMRT shares dropped 40 percent to $1.02 after the company reported weak Q1 results and suspended its quarterly dividend.

Shares of Ascena Retail Group Inc ASNA were down 37 percent to $1.77 after the company lowered its Q3 and FY17 guidance.

Endologix, Inc. ELGX was down, falling around 35 percent to $4.37 after the company issued an update on Nellix System US regulatory status. Following meeting with the FDA, Endologix will seek US approval by conducting a confirmatory clinical study with the IFU and Gen2 device design. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Endologix from Buy to Hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.14 percent to $48.51 while gold traded down 0.04 percent to $1,258.20.

Silver traded down 1.22 percent Thursday to $16.70, while copper fell 2.12 percent to $2.4925.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.99 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 1.91 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.67 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.80 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 1.13 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.17 percent.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims dropped 4,000 to 232,000 for the latest week. However, economists projected jobless claims to reach 240,000 in the week.

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index climbed to a reading of 38.8 in May, compared to 22 in April. However, economists were expecting a reading of 19.6 for the month.

The leading economic index increased 0.3 percent for April.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks for 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 Minneapolis at 1:15 p.m. ET.

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