Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Groupon Surges After Strong Q4 Results; World Fuel Services Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.42 percent to 20,590.90 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.42 percent to 5,807.00. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.35 percent to 2,345.77.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.91 percent in trading on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 0.51 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. HE, down 3 percent, and Chesapeake Utilities Corporation CPK, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

PepsiCo, Inc. PEP reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

PepsiCo earned $1.20 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $19.52 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.16 per share on revenue of $19.51 billion.

PepsiCo guided its full fiscal year 2017 earnings per share to be $5.09, which fell short of the $5.16 per share analysts were expecting.

Equities Trading UP

Fortress Investment Group LLC FIG shares shot up 29 percent to $7.99. SoftBank Group agreed to acquire Fortress Investment for $8.08 per share in cash.

Shares of Groupon Inc GRPN got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $4.64 after the company posted upbeat Q4 results. Alibaba reported a 5.7 percent passive stake in Groupon as of December 31, 2016.

MDC Partners Inc MDCA shares were also up, gaining 28 percent to $8.65 after the company disclosed that Goldman will make a $95 million investment in the company.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. SINO shares dropped 25 percent to $3.31. Sino-Global reported a $4.77 million registered direct offering.

Shares of Fossil Group Inc FOSL were down around 16 percent to $19.17. Fossil Group reported lower earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

World Fuel Services Corp INT was down, falling around 15 percent to $38.56 after the company posted weak Q4 earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.09 percent to $53.66 while gold traded up 0.53 percent to $1,231.90.

Silver traded up 0.34 percent Wednesday to $17.95, while copper rose 0.18 percent to $2.74.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.34 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.78 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.69 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.19 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.59 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.47 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index gained 0.6 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth.

U.S. retail sales increased 0.4 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent gain.

The Empire State manufacturing index increased to 18.70 in February, versus a prior reading of 6.50. Economists projected a reading of 7.00.

U.S. industrial production declined 0.3 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent growth.

U.S. business inventories rose 0.4 percent for December, versus economists’ estimates of 0.4 percent gain.

The NAHB housing market index slipped to 65.00 in February, versus a prior reading of 67.00. Economists projected a reading of 67.00.

Crude-oil supplies increased 9.5 million barrels to 518.1 million barrels for the week ended February 10, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were expecting a gain of 3.25 million barrels. Gasoline supplies increased 2.8 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles dropped 700,000 barrels last week.

The Treasury International Capital data for December will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in New York at 7:15 p.m. ET.