Mid-Day Market Update: Gannett Jumps On Upbeat Earnings; IBM Shares Slide

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.24 percent to 16,341.73 while the NASDAQ surged 0.65 percent to 4,286.23. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.37 percent to 1,893.67.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Cyclical consumer goods & services shares jumped 1 percent on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included Sears Holdings SHLD, CTC Media CTCM, and Lee Enterprises LEE.

In trading on Monday, energy shares rose by just 0.07 percent. Top losers in the sector included Tesoro Logistics LP TLLP, down 8.9 percent, and Westmoreland Coal Co WLB, off 4.4 percent.

Top Headline

Hasbro HAS reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter.

The Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based company posted quarterly net earnings of $180.5 million, or $1.40 per share, up from $126.6 million, or $0.96 per share, in the year-earlier period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $1.46 per share.

Its revenue climbed 7.3% to $1.47 billion versus $1.37 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.45 per share on revenue of $1.47 billion.

Equities Trading UP

ShoreTel SHOR shares shot up 16.59 percent to $7.59 after Mitel Networks MITL proposed to acquire ShoreTel for $8.10 per share in cash.

Shares of Cleco CNL got a boost, shooting up 10.23 percent to $53.21 after the company agreed to be acquired by North American Investor Group led by Macquarie Infrastructure for $55.37 per share in cash.

Gannett Co GCI shares were also up, gaining 4.71 percent to $29.00 after the company reported better-than-expected profit for the third quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of NCR NCR were down 20.78 percent to $23.66 after the company issued a weak Q3 forecast and lowered its 2014 outlook.

International Business Machines IBM shares tumbled 6.72 percent to $169.81 after the company posted downbeat profit in the third quarter and announced its plans to pay $1.5 billion to Globalfoundries to take over its chip unit.

Steven Madden SHOO was down, falling 8.64 percent to $29.18 after the company issued a downbeat Q3 forecast and lowered its fiscal 2014 outlook.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.91 percent to $82.00, while gold traded up 0.46 percent to $1,244.70.

Silver traded up 0.11 percent Monday to $17.35, while copper fell 1.07 percent to $2.97.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.29 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.86 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.43 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.98 percent while UK shares slipped 0.65 percent.

Economics

There were no major economic releases Monday morning.