Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Target Tops Q3 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.21% to 27874.10 while the NASDAQ fell 0.04% to 8,567.46. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.10% to 3,117.18.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Huaneng Power International, Inc. HNP, up 4%, and Central Puerto S.A. CEPU, up 2%.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Target Corporation TGT reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter and raised its FY19 earnings forecast.

Target posted quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.19 per share. Its sales came in at $18.7 billion, beating expectations of $18.49 billion. Same-store sales increased 4.5% during the quarter.

Target raised its FY19 adjusted EPS guidance from $5.90-$6.20 to $6.25-$6.45.

Equities Trading UP

Cancer Genetics, Inc. CGIX shares shot up 124% to $4.6501 after the company announced it has retained H.C. Wainwright to explore strategic alternatives.

Shares of Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. DFFN got a boost, shooting up 94% to $0.4271 after the company reported increased survival rates in the lead-in portion of the Phase 3 Glioblastoma study.

Aravive, Inc. ARAV shares were also up, gaining 82% to $11.87 after the company reported new positive data from its Phase 1b trial of AVB-500. The data from the study affirmed high levels of AVB-500 were strongly predictive of anti-tumor activity with statistically significant correlation to progression-free survival, which is the primary endpoint.

Equities Trading DOWN

Berry Petroleum Corporation BRY shares tumbled 21% to $7.01 after multiple firms downgraded the stock.

Shares of Pinduoduo Inc. PDD were down 17% to $33.72 after the company reported worse-than-expected third-quarter EPS and sales results.

LAIX Inc. LAIX was down, falling 20% to $2.6227 after the company reported Q3 results.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $55.35, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,476.30.

Silver traded up 0.1% Wednesday to $17.125, while copper rose 0.3% to $2.6635.

Euro zone


European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.9%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.8%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.5%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.7% while UK shares fell 1.3%.

Economics

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 Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.