Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Turns Higher; Koppers Holdings Shares Drop Following Weak Q3 Results

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.27 percent to 26,250.02 while the NASDAQ declined 0.28 percent to 7,549.42. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.06 percent to 2,812.25.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, the financial shares climbed 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Owens Realty Mortgage Inc ORM 31.41% up 31 percent, and Independence Holding Company IHC 6.61% up 8 percent.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell 0.9 percent.

Top Headline

Cardinal Health Inc CAH 4.55% reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fiscal first quarter.

Cardinal Health reported earnings of $1.29 per share, beating estimates of $1.08. Total revenue came in at $35.2 billion, which exceeded estimates of $33.65 billion.

Cardinal Health reaffirmed its FY19 adjusted earnings forecast of $4.90 to $5.15 per share and reported a $1 billion buyback plan.

Equities Trading UP

Crocs, Inc. CROX 26.42% shares shot up 25 percent to $26.84 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and raised its FY18 guidance.

Shares of Owens Realty Mortgage, Inc. ORM 31.41% got a boost, shooting up 32 percent to $19.75. Ready Capital announced a merger with Owens Realty Mortgage in an all-stock deal.

Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc PTLA 21.64% shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $23.8701 following upbeat Q3 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Horizon Global Corporation HZN 46.03% shares dropped 47 percent to $3.00 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q3 results.

Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP 25.19% were down 26 percent to $21.03 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q3 results.

Talend S.A. TLND 34.9% was down, falling around 36 percent to $40.10 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results and announced plans to purchase Stitch for $60 million in cash.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.75 percent to $61.21 while gold traded down 0.26 percent to $1,225.50.

Silver traded down 0.89 percent Thursday to $14.44, while copper fell 0.58 percent to $2.7385.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.11 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.04 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.71 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.53 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.29 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.33 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims fell 1,000 to 214,000 in the week ended November 3. However, economists projected a 214,000 reading.

Domestic supplies of natural gas climbed 65 billion cubic feet for the week ended November 2, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts projected a gain of 58 billion cubic feet.

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

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