Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Delta Air Lines Profit Misses Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.02 percent to 21,536.92 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.20 percent to 6,273.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.11 percent to 2,445.84.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares rose by 1 percent in the US market on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included Yandex NV YNDX, and Magnachip Semiconductor Corp MX.

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell 0.52 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc CPRX, down 7 percent, and Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. FOLD, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL posted stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Delta Air posted quarterly earnings of $1.64 per share on revenue of $10.79 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.67 per share on sales of $10.82 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Yandex NV YNDX shares shot up 15 percent to $31.36 following announcement of a deal with Uber. Uber will merge its Russian operations with Russia-based Yandex and from a yet-to-be-named venture that would be worth $3.73 billion, Bloomberg reported. In turn, Uber will invest $225 million in the new venture and will own a 36.6-percent stake in the combined entity.

Shares of Navigator Holdings Ltd NVGS got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $10.60. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. EPD and Navigator Holdings announced plans to develop an ethylene marine export terminal on the Houston Ship Channel.

Cobalt International Energy, Inc. CIE shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $2.48 after the company reported a deal to expand Anchor unit.

Equities Trading DOWN

Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. FOLD shares dropped 7 percent to $12.29. Amicus Therapeutics reported a $225 million public offering of common stock.

Shares of DragonWave, Inc.(USA) DRWI were down 12 percent to $0.960. DragonWave reported a Q1 loss of $0.52 per share on revenue of $9 million.

Seagate Technology PLC STX was down, falling around 5 percent to $37.59. Barclays downgraded Seagate from Equal-Weight to Underweight.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.09 percent to $45.45 while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,219.50.

Silver traded down 0.20 percent Thursday to $15.855, while copper rose 0.28 percent to $2.6915.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.37 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.96 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.37 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.06 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.50 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.03 percent.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims slipped 3,000 to 247,000 for the latest week.

The Producer Price Index rose 0.1 percent for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent decline.

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

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will speak in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 30-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget data for June will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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