Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Ford Profit Beats Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.51 percent to 21,723.72 while the NASDAQ gained 0.30 percent to 6,431.51. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.14 percent to 2,480.48.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Telecommunications services shares climbed by 0.64 percent in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included AT&T Inc. T, and TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) TSU.

In trading on Wednesday, healthcare shares fell 0.28 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Amedisys Inc AMED, down 16 percent, and Kindred Healthcare, Inc. KND, down 14 percent.

Top Headline

Ford Motor Company F posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Ford posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.56 per share, on revenue of $39.85 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.43 per share on sales of $37.28 billion.

Ford projects full-year adjusted earnings of $1.65 to $1.85 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $1.51 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc TTPH shares shot up 11 percent to $7.66 as the company reported 'positive' topline Phase 3 IGNITE4 results. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Tetraphase Pharma from Hold to Buy.

Shares of EnteroMedics Inc ETRM got a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $4.75 as the company disclosed that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Galvani Bioelectronics.

Smart & Final Stores Inc SFS shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $9.20. Smart & Final Stores posted Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.14 per share on revenue of 1.08 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

LSB Industries, Inc. LXU shares dropped 24 percent to $8.05. LSB Industries posted Q2 loss of $0.53 per share on revenue of $122.9 million and issued an update on its strategic alternatives review process. The company’s board decided to terminate the formal sale process portion of its strategic review.

Shares of Wabash National Corporation WNC were down 14 percent to $20.31 after the company reported downbeat Q2 earnings.

Triumph Group Inc TGI was down, falling around 16 percent to $27.90 after the company posted downbeat Q2 earnings and issued a weak forecast for the year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.94 percent to $48.34 while gold traded down 0.47 percent to $1,252.60.

Silver traded down 0.92 percent Wednesday to $16.39, while copper rose 0.35 percent to $2.8565.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.46 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.32 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.04 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.30 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.54 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.48 percent.

Economics

New-home sales were rose 0.8 percent to an annual rate of 610,000 in June. However, economists were expecting a 615,000 annual pace.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.