Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Lowe's Misses Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.16 percent to 20,970.52 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.16 percent to 6,148.77. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.10 percent to 2,400.89.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector was the top gainer in the US market on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.21 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Chico's FAS, Inc. CHS, down 16 percent, and Tiffany & Co. TIF, down 9 percent.

Top Headline

Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW posted weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Lowe's reported earnings of $1.03 per share in the quarter on revenue of $16.86 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.06 per share on revenue of $16.96 billion.

Lowe's lowered its FY17 earnings forecast to $4.30 per share, from $4.64 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Container Store Group Inc TCS shares shot up 42 percent to $5.89 after the company posted upbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued a strong forecast for FY 2017.

Shares of Triumph Group Inc TGI got a boost, shooting up 31 percent to $31.70. Triumph Group reported Q4 earnings of $1.32 per share on sales of $919 million.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc INO shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $9.22 after the company disclosed that its HIV vaccine elicited nearly 100 percent immune response rates in clinical study.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. ANW shares dropped 35 percent to $6.80 after the company posted downbeat quarterly profit. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Aegean Marine from Buy to Hold.

Shares of Ooma Inc OOMA were down 24 percent to $8.90 after the company's first-quarter earnings report and forward looking guidance failed to impress investors

Bristow Group Inc BRS was down, falling around 24 percent to $11.16. Bristow Group reported Q4 adjusted loss of $1.15 per share on revenue of $323.651 million. The company projects FY18 results to be impacted by continued offshore oil and gas industry downturn.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.43 percent to $51.25 while gold traded down 0.16 percent to $1,256.90.

Silver traded down 0.26 percent Wednesday to $17.095, while copper fell 0.54 percent to $2.582.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.01 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.36 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.13 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.08 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.26 percent.

Economics

The FHFA house price index rose 0.60 percent to 246.20 for March. Economists expected a 0.60 percent growth.

Existing home sales declined 2.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million for April. Economists were expecting a 5.65 million pace.

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

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Toronto at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari will speak in Ashland, Wisconsin at 6:30 p.m. ET.