Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Bank of America Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.08 percent to 18,124.34 while the NASDAQ declined 0.14 percent to 5,206.77. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.13 percent to 2,130.15.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, utilities shares gained by 0.32 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Korea Electric Power Corporation (ADR) KEP, and FirstEnergy Corp. FE.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell by 0.71 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Denbury Resources Inc. DNR, down 4 percent, and Isramco, Inc. ISRL, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Bank of America Corp. BAC reported better than expected results for the third quarter.

Bank of America reported net income of $5.0 billion, or EPS of $0.41, for the third quarter. Street expected the company to deliver EPS of $0.33. Last year, the company earned $4.6 billion, or EPS of $0.38.

The company's revenue grew 3 percent from $21.0 billion to $21.6 billion thus exceeding the analysts' estimates of $20.94 billion.

Equities Trading UP

RLJ Entertainment Inc RLJE shares shot up 20 percent to $2.39. RLJ Entertainment and AMC Networks Inc AMCX disclosed that they have entered into a strategic partnership for streaming services.

Shares of Omeros Corporation OMER got a boost, shooting up 7 percent to $7.86 after the company reported positive initial results for its Phase 2 trial of OMS721, a complement inhibitor for renal diseases.

SUPERVALU INC. SVU shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $5.42 after the company announced plans to sell its Save-A-Lot business for $1.365 billion to Onex.

Equities Trading DOWN

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. PTCT shares dropped 32 percent to $9.03 after the company reported a regulatory update on Translarna for nonsense mutation DMD.

Shares of Opus Bank OPB were down 15 percent to $29.32 after the company announced a $0.59 loan charge-offs. Opus Bank now projects a Q3 loss of $0.05 per share.

Corenergy Infrastructure Trust Inc CORR was down, falling around 11 percent to $25.77. RBC Capital downgraded CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust from Sector Perform to Underperform.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.32 percent to $50.59 while gold traded up 0.02 percent to $1,255.80.

Silver traded down 0.06 percent Monday to $17.43, while copper rose 0.02 percent to $2.11.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.62 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.22 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.25 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.48 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.29 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.74 percent.

Economics

The Empire State manufacturing index dropped to negative 6.8 in October, compared to negative 2 in September. Economists expected a reading of positive 1 for the month.

U.S. industrial production rose 0.1 percent in September, versus a revised 0.5 percent decline in August.

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

Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.