Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; PepsiCo Tops Q4 Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.5% to 29403.49 while the NASDAQ fell 0.36% to 9691.30. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.33% to 3,368.18.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares climbed 0.3% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Redfin Corporation RDFN, up 12%, and Iron Mountain Incorporated IRM, up 5%.

In trading on Thursday, industrial shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

PepsiCo, Inc. PEP reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

PepsiCo reported fourth-quarter EPS at $1.45, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.44. The company reported revenue at $20.64 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $20.27 billion.

PepsiCo said it projects 2020 adjusted EPS growth of 7% and organic revenue growth of 4%. The company also announced plans to lift its dividend by 7% to $4.09 per share.

Equities Trading UP

CounterPath Corporation CPAH shares shot up 34% to $2.8799 after the company announced it has secured a 5-year deal with Vodafone Fiji to extend superior quality voice services to consumers.

Shares of Exterran Corporation EXTN got a boost, shooting 22% to $5.61 after the company issued Q4 operational update. Exterran expects Q4 preliminary sales of $265 million to $275 million.

Alpha Pro Tech, Ltd. APT shares were also up, gaining 17% to $5.55 as new Coronavirus cases in China spike. The company said it has booked $10.4 million in orders for its N-95 face mask as a result of the outbreak.

Equities Trading DOWN

Agile Therapeutics, Inc. AGRX shares tumbled 33% to $2.88.

Shares of Marchex, Inc. MCHX were down 24% to $3.0783 after the company reported Q4 results.

NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NRBO was down, falling 32% to $20.50.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.5% to $50.94, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,577.30.

Silver traded up 0.7% Thursday to $17.61, while copper fell 0.3% to $2.5935.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.7%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.6% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.6%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.8% while UK shares fell 1.6%.

Economics

The consumer price index increased 0.1% in January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1% increase.

Initial jobless claims increased 2,000 to 205,000 in the latest week. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 210,000.

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

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 12:45 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 5:30 p.m. ET.

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