Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Fall; Boeing Profit Tops Street View

Related BZSUM #PreMarket Primer: Wednesday, April 23: Data From China Takes Some Pressure Off Beijing Market Wrap For April 22: S&P Rises For Sixth Straight Day, Dow & Nasdaq Also Positive

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.13 percent to 16,492.37 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.61 percent to 4,136.26. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.18 percent to 1,876.15.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.61 percent. Top gainers in the sector included PPL (NYSE: PPL), Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte SA (NYSE: EDN), and Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG). Telecommunications services sector was the top decliner in the US market on Wednesday.

Top losers in the sector included China Unicom (Hong Kong) (NYSE: CHU), off 4.5 percent, and Black Box (NASDAQ: BBOX), down 3 percent.

Top Headline
The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit. Boeing's quarterly profit declined to $965 million, or $1.28 per share, from a year-ago profit of $1.11 billion, or $1.44 per share. Its adjusted earnings surged to $1.76 per share compared to $1.73 per share. Its revenue climbed to $20.47 billion versus $18.89 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.57 per share on revenue of $20.24 billion. For the full year, Boeing expects adjusted earnings of $7.15 to $7.35 per share.

Equities Trading UP
Xoom (NASDAQ: XOOM) shares shot up 15.58 percent to $22.77 after the company reported upbeat Q1 results and issued a strong FY14 outlook.

Shares of Elizabeth Arden (NASDAQ: RDEN) got a boost, shooting up 9.95 percent to $31.27. LG Household & Healthcare is considering a bid for Elizabeth Arden, according to Reuters.

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) shares were also up, gaining 11.50 percent to $21.13 after the company reported upbeat FQ3 results and issued a strong Q4 forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of VMware (NYSE: VMW) were 9.93 percent to $94.71 after the company reported Q1 results. Vmware reported earnings of $0.80 per share on revenue of $1.36 billion.

Unisys (NYSE: UIS) shares tumbled 12.12 percent to $25.42 on Q1 results. Unisys reported a quarterly loss of $0.74 per share on revenue of $762.0 million.

Cree (NASDAQ: CREE) was down, falling 10.84 percent to $51.76 on Q3 results. Cree reported its Q3 earnings of $0.39 per share on revenue of $405.30 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.38 per share on revenue of $407.29 million.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 2.57 percent to $101.69, while gold traded down 0.38 percent to $1,283.70.

Silver traded up 0.18 percent Wednesday to $19.42, while copper rose 0.25 percent to $3.04.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today.

The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.07 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.42 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.41 percent and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.08 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.02 percent.

Economics
The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity declined 3.30% in the week ended April 18.

The preliminary reading of Markit PMI manufacturing index fell to 55.40 in April, versus a reading of 55.50 in March. However, economists were expecting a reading of 56.00.

Sales of new US homes dropped 14.5% to an annual rate of 384,000 in March. However, economists were projecting a sales rate of 450,000.

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Forex Global Econ #s Economics Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

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