Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Humana Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.16 percent to 23,518.58 while the NASDAQ declined 0.08 percent to 6,762.67. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.16 percent to 2,586.50.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.77 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included American Public Education, Inc. APEI, up 15 percent, and Medifast Inc MED, up 14 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.60 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Flotek Industries Inc FTK, down 11 percent, and Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. ANW down 11 percent.

Top Headline

Humana Inc HUM reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its FY17 forecast.

Humana posted quarterly EPS of $3.39 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $3.27 per share. Its revenue declined 3 percent to $13.28 billion.

Humana now expects 2017 adjusted earnings of around $11.60 per share, versus earlier forecast of $11.50 per share.

Equities Trading UP

OncoSec Medical Inc ONCS shares shot up 70 percent to $2.13 after the company disclosed positive updated long-term follow-up data from its Phase 2 OMS I-102 combination study of ImmunoPulse® IL-12 and pembrolizumab.

Shares of Izea Inc IZEA got a boost, shooting up 47 percent to $4.81 after the company posted upbeat Q3 results.

MBIA Inc. MBI shares were also up, gaining 31 percent to $9.10. MBIA reported a Q3 loss of $267 million on revenue of $33 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

CECO Environmental Corp. CECE shares dropped 25 percent to $6.43 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results.

Shares of Vitamin Shoppe Inc VSI were down 17 percent to $3.55 after reporting weak Q3 results.

RedHill Biopharma Ltd - ADR RDHL was down, falling around 27 percent to $5.47 after the company reported an offering of ADSs.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.26 percent to $57.05 while gold traded up 0.49 percent to $1,282.00.

Silver traded up 0.77 percent Wednesday to $17.07, while copper rose 0.15 percent to $3.0935.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.23 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.27 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.75 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.06 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.23 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.02 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.

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