Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; AutoZone Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.02% to 27915.40 while the NASDAQ rose 0.25% to 8,643.81. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.09% to 3,138.73.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 0.2% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Wrap Technologies Inc WRTC, up 9%, and Mongodb Inc MDB, up 5%.

In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

AutoZone AZO reported better-than-expected Q1 EPS and sales results.

AutoZone reported quarterly earnings of $14.3 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $13.77 per share. Its sales came in at $2.79 billion, versus expectations of $2.77 billion. AutoZone’s Q1 same store sales increased 3.4%.

Equities Trading UP

Equillium, Inc. EQ shares shot up 28% to $5.20 after the FDA granted fast track designation for Itolizumab for the treatment of Lupus Nephritis.

Shares of Iterum Therapeutics plc ITRM got a boost, shooting up 63% to $6.47.

Avid Bioservices, Inc. CDMO shares were also up, gaining 17% to $6.85 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. First Analyst also upgraded the stock from Outperform to Strong Buy.

Equities Trading DOWN

Francesca's Holdings Corporation FRAN shares tumbled 31% to $13.72 after the company reported Q3 EPS results down from last year and worse-than-expected Q3 sales results.

Shares of Conn's, Inc. CONN were down 28% to $14.85 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 sales results. The company also issued Q4 total retail sales down 5%-9%.

Construction Partners, Inc. ROAD was down, falling 18% to $16.90 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $58.88, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,470.20.

Silver traded up 0.4% Tuesday to $16.70, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.761.

Euro zone


European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.4%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.7%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.2% while UK shares fell 0.4%.

Economics

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today.

The NFIB small business optimism index increased to 104.7 in November, compared to 102.4 in October.

U.S. labor productivity declined by an annualized 0.2% in the third quarter, versus a preliminary estimate of a 0.3% drop. Unit labor costs increased by an annualized 2.5% during the quarter.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 5% year-over -year during the first week of December.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.