Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Wal-Mart Beats Q3 Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.63 percent to 23,417.14 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.90 percent to 6,766.54. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.56 percent to 2,579.08.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Griffon Corporation GFF and Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.21 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Duke Energy Corp DUK, down 2 percent, and American Midstream Partners LP AMID down 1 percent.

Top Headline

Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and lifted its full-year earnings forecast.

Wal-Mart posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $1 per share on revenue of $123.2 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.97 per share on revenue of $121 billion. Comparable store sales rose 2.7 percent in the quarter.

It now projects full-year earnings of $4.38 to $4.46, versus its prior forecast of $4.30 to $4.40 per share.

Equities Trading UP

China Advanced Constructn Mtrls Grp Inc CADC shares shot up 265 percent to $7.85 after gaining 2.33 percent on Wednesday.

Shares of Time Inc TIME got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $15.75. Koch Brothers is said to back Meredith bid for Time.

RH RH shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $98.28 after the company increased its outlook for third quarter and fiscal 2017.

Equities Trading DOWN

Intec Pharma Ltd NTEC shares dropped 12 percent to $6.55. Intec Pharma reported a Q3 loss of $0.29 per share.

Shares of Diplomat Pharmacy Inc DPLO were down 20 percent to $15.24. Diplomat Pharmacy agreed to buy LDI Integrated Pharmacy Services. Baird downgraded Diplomat Pharmacy from Outperform to Neutral.

BEST Inc (ADR) BSTI was down, falling around 9 percent to $10.86. BEST posted a quarterly loss of $70.249 million on sales of $804.775 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.33 percent to $55.15 while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,278.10.

Silver traded up 0.52 percent Thursday to $17.06, while copper rose 0.26 percent to $3.085.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.78 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.25 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.15 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.60 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.74 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims gained 10,000 to 249,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 235,000 last week.

The Philly Fed manufacturing index dropped to 18.90 in November, versus prior reading of 27.90. Economists projected a reading of 25.00.

The import price index increased 0.2 percent for October, while export price index was flat.

U.S. industrial production rose 0.9 percent for October, beating economists’ expectations for a 0.6 percent gain.

The NAHB housing market index gained 2 points to 70 in November. Economists expected a reading of 67.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Houston at 1:10 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak in Ann Arbor, Michigan at 3:45 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.