Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Brown-Forman Reports Weak Q4 Results

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.20 percent to 21,178.62 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.33 percent to 6,295.85. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19 percent to 2,433.91.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial sector was the top gainer in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included MBIA Inc. MBI, AmTrust Financial Services Inc AFSI, and LNB Bancorp Inc LNBB.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.03 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Isramco, Inc. ISRL, down 8 percent, and CGG SA (ADR) CGG, down 3 percent.

Top Headline

Brown-Forman Corporation BF reported a weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Brown-Forman reported Q4 profit of $144 million, or $0.37 per share, compared to $522 million, or $1.30 per share, in the year-ago period.

Its total sales declined to $887 million, while net sales slipped to $694 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.40 per share on net sales of $738.52 million.

Equities Trading UP

DragonWave, Inc.(USA) DRWI shares shot up 60 percent to $1.03 following announcement of product and services contract for SmartSky Networks.

Shares of Mateon Therapeutics Inc MATN got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $0.530 after the company disclosed that it has received the FDA Fast Track designation for OXi4503 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

Carvana Co CVNA shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $11.19 after the company reported upbeat Q1 results and issued a strong sales forecast for the current quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Duluth Holdings Inc DLTH shares dropped 16 percent to $17.28 after the company posted downbeat quarterly profit.

Shares of Analogic Corporation ALOG were down 11 percent to $66.70. Analogic reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.79 per share on sales of $122.2 million. The company also issued a weak earnings forecast for FY17.

Ambarella Inc AMBA was down, falling around 11 percent to $52.99. Ambarella reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued a weak outlook for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.06 percent to $47.68 while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,294.20.

Silver traded down 0.31 percent Wednesday to $17.655, while copper fell 0.14 percent to $2.5435.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.45 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.31 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.86 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.87 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.18 percent.

Economics

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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