Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; VeriFone Posts Q2 Loss

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.04 percent to 21,182.53 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.39 percent to 6,321.76. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.03 percent to 2,433.79.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial sector was the top gainer in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. DFT, CNB Financial Corp CCNE, and LNB Bancorp Inc LNBB.

In trading on Friday, telecommunications services shares fell 0.40 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included BT Group plc (ADR) BT, down 3.5 percent, and Telecom Italia SpA (ADR) TI, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

VeriFone Systems Inc PAY posted a loss for the second quarter and lowered its FY17 outlook on Thursday.

Verifone posted Q2 earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $474 million. Analysts expected earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $472.6 million.

Verifone now expects FY17 adjusted earnings of $1.32 to $1.34 per share, versus earlier outlook of $1.35 to $1.39 per share. It also lowered its sales forecast from $1.895 billion-$1.91 billion, to $1.865 billion-$1.87 billion.

Equities Trading UP

DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. DFT shares shot up 14 percent to $62.95. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. DLR announced plans to merge with DuPont Fabros.

Shares of Layne Christensen Company LAYN got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $8.83 after the company posted a narrower-than-expected loss for its first quarter.

Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc COLL shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $10.90 after the company disclosed that it will present data on Xtampza® ER at the 2017 International Conference on Opioids.

Equities Trading DOWN

Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. TOO shares dropped 18 percent to $2.74. Morgan Stanley downgraded Teekay Offshore from Equal-Weight to Underweight.

Shares of Teekay Corporation TK were down 13 percent to $5.56. Morgan Stanley downgraded Teekay from Equal-Weight to Underweight.

Cloudera Inc CLDR was down, falling around 12 percent to $20.20. Cloudera reported Q1 adjusted loss of $0.27 per share on revenue of $79.6 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.22 percent to $45.54 while gold traded down 0.26 percent to $1,276.20.

Silver traded down 0.54 percent Friday to $17.32, while copper rose 0.75 percent to $2.629.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.06 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.23 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.14 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.38 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.29 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.55 percent.

Economics

U.S. wholesale inventories declined 0.50 percent for April.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.