Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; SYNNEX Beats Q4 Views

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.77 percent to 23,819.99 while the NASDAQ declined 0.61 percent to 6,943.79. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.64 percent to 2,579.99.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday morning, the consumer discretionary shares slipped by just 0.05 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included General Motors Company GM up 8 percent, and Kandi Technologies Group Inc KNDI up 6 percent.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 1 percent.

Top Headline

SYNNEX Corporation SNX reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong outlook for the first quarter.

SYNNEX posted quarterly earnings of $3.65 per share on sales of $5.6 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $3.09 per share on sales of $5.43 billion.

Synnex expects Q1 adjusted earnings of $2.70 to $2.80 per share, on sales of $5.23 billion to $5.43 billion. Analysts project earnings of $2.51 per share on sales of $5.08 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Flotek Industries Inc FTK shares got a boost, shooting up 89 percent to $2.67 after the company reported the sale of its Florida Chemical Co. to Archer Daniels Midland for $175 million in cash.

Shares of Tilray Inc TLRY shot up 23 percent to $99.15 after Privateer Holdings announced it does not plan to register, sell, or distribute its Tilray shares during the first half of 2019.

SYNNEX Corporation SNX shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $97.29 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong outlook for the first quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aratana Therapeutics Inc PETX shares dropped 24 percent to $4.50 after Stifel Nicolaus downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $8 to $5.

Shares of Aehr Test Systems AEHR were down 19 percent to $1.51. Aehr Test Systems reported a Q2 loss of $0.02 per share on sales of $5.9 million. The company also lowered its FY19 sales guidance.

Magnegas Applied Tchnlgy Sltns Inc MNGA was down, falling around 27 percent to $0.17. MagneGas Applied Technologies entered into a securities purchase deal with investors for the issuance of 31 million common shares. MagneGas priced $4.3 million common stock and warrants offering for $0.14 per unit.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.61 percent to $52.91 while gold traded up 0.38 percent to $1,292.30.

Silver traded up 0.56 percent Friday to $15.73, while copper rose 0.74 percent to $2.657.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.14 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.13 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.34 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.56 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.66 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.43 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index fell 0.1 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent drop.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury report for December is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.