Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Deere Beats Q4 Expectations

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.92% to 28951.46 while the NASDAQ fell 1.42% to 9,612.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.97% to 3,340.60.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares climbed 0.2% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust PEI, up 5%, and SBA Communications Corporation SBAC, up 4%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 1.8%.

Top Headline

Deere & Company DE reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Friday.

Deere posted quarterly earnings of $1.63 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $1.26 per share. Its quarterly sales came in at $7.631 billion, beating expectations of $6.42 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Trans World Entertainment Corporation TWMC shares shot up 110% to $7.35 after the company disclosed that its subsidiary etailz entered into a deal with Encina for $25 million 3-year secured revolving credit facility.

Shares of Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. CLDX got a boost, shooting 41% to $3.19. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Celldex Therapeutics with an Overweight rating and a $8 price target.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc AVDL shares were also up, gaining 27% to $9.02 after the company reported a $65 million private placement with investors led by Vivo Capital, Avoro Capital Advisors, RTW Investments, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Acuta Capital, and KVP Capital.

Equities Trading DOWN

Appian Corporation APPN shares tumbled 24% to $47.46 after the company issued downbeat FY20 earnings and sales guidance.

Shares of BlueLinx Holdings Inc. BXC were down 18% to $15.91 after the company said it was “not aware’ of any tender offer from Bluefin Acquisitions. According to yesterday’s press release, Bluefin Acquisitions announced a tender offer to buy BlueLinx at $24.50 per share.

Conduent Incorporated CNDT was down, falling 20% to $3.9752 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 earnings. The company also issued FY20 sales guidance down 6-8%.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.8% to $52.89, while gold traded up 1% to $1,636.80.

Silver traded up 0.9% Friday to $18.49, while copper fell 0.2% to $2.582.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.1% the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.3% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.1%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.1% while UK shares fell 0.2%.

Economics

The IHS Markit US composite PMI slipped to 49.6 in February, versus a reading of 53.3 in the prior month.

U.S. existing home sales fell 1.3% to an annual rate of 5.46 million units in January.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 1:30 p.m. ET.