Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Honeywell Tops Q2 Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.02 percent to 25,059.28 while the NASDAQ gained 0.2 percent to 7,842.07. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 2,804.30.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the information technology shares climbed 0.37 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Limelight Networks, Inc. LLNW up 9 percent, and Gravity Co., Ltd. GRVY up 9 percent.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.93 percent.

Top Headline

Honeywell International Inc. HON reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY18 guidance.

The company posted quarterly profit of $2.12 per share, on revenue of $10.919 billion. Analysts projected earnings of $2.01 per share on revenue of $10.81 billion.

Equities Trading UP

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. PTCT shares shot up 9 percent to $39.6844 the company agreed to acquire Agilis Biotherapeutics for $50 million in cash and $150 million in common stock.

Shares of SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. SLS got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $1.70 after the company received Fast Track designation for galinpepimut-S for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.

Tilray, Inc. TLRY shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $25.44 after surging 31.71 percent on Thursday. Tilray priced its 9 million share offering at $17 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. SKX shares dropped 22 percent to $25.79 after the footwear company disappointed investors with its second-quarter earnings report and third-quarter guidance. The company guided its third-quarter EPS to a range of 50 cents to 55 cents on revenue of $1.2 billion to $1.225 billion versus the Street's model of 68 cents per share and $1.26 billion.

Shares of Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ZYNE were down 24 percent to $7.96 after the cannabinoid-focused company announced a public offering of common stock. The company said proceeds will be used to support the clinical development of its ZYN002 therapy and for general corporate purposes.

FTD Companies, Inc. FTD was down, falling around 13 percent to $3.94 after announcing review of strategic alternatives, naming Scott Levin as CEO. The company also issued preliminary second quarter EBITDA of $15.7 million-$18.4 million and sees sales coming in below estimates. The company also cut FY18 adjusted EBITDA outlook from $52 million-$62 million to $37 million- $41 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.58 percent to $69.86 while gold traded up 0.43 percent to $1,229.30.

Silver traded up 0.31 percent Friday to $15.45, while copper rose 1.52 to $2.7365.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.64 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.49 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.84 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 1.02 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.57 percent.

Economics

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.