Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Helen of Troy Profit Beats Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 21,411.34 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.03 percent to 6,154.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.02 percent to 2,425.56.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares rose by 1.4 percent in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) BITA, and Digimarc Corp DMRC.

In trading on Monday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.34 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF, down 18 percent, and Best Buy Co Inc BBY, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Helen of Troy Limited HELE reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Monday.

Helen of Troy posted Q1 earnings of $1.37 per share on revenue of $359.61 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.26 per share on sales of $358.40 million.

Helen of Troy expects FY 2018 earnings of $6.50 to $6.90 per share, on revenue of $1.56 billion to $1.60 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $6.67 per share on revenue of $1.58 billion.

Equities Trading UP

ClubCorp Holdings Inc MYCC shares shot up 30 percent to $17.08 after the company disclosed that it has entered into a definitive agreement with affiliates of certain investment funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management LLC APO to acquire all of the outstanding shares of ClubCorp for $17.12 per share in cash.

Shares of Hawaiian Telcom HoldCo Inc HCOM got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $28.54 as the company agreed to be acquired by Cincinnati Bell Inc. CBB for $30.75 per share cash and stock.

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AVEO shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $3.00 ahead of regulatory decision from the European Commission on tivozanib drug.

Equities Trading DOWN

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF shares dropped 18 percent to $9.95 on news that it had terminated talks for a potential sale. The board announced in a press release that the best conceived way to increase shareholder value is through pursuit of its enduring strategy.

Shares of LeMaitre Vascular Inc LMAT were down 17 percent to $26.50. Benchmark and Canaccord Genuity downgraded LeMaitre Vascular from Buy to Hold.

USA Technologies, Inc. USAT was down, falling around 7 percent to $4.90. On Friday, USA Technologies reported a proposed underwritten public offering of its common stock consisting of around $34.5 million of shares.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.86 percent to $43.85 while gold traded up 0.04 percent to $1,210.20.

Silver traded down 0.88 percent Monday to $15.29, while copper fell 0.42 percent to $2.636.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.25 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.56 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.42 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.19 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.01 percent.

Economics

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index slipped to 133.32 for June, versus a prior reading of 133.70.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index for June is schedule for release at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for May will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John C. Williams is set to speak in Sydney, New South Wales at 11:05 p.m. ET.