Morning News: Apollo, Monsanto, Synaptics, Smith & Wesson, Mistras

Updated on

Morning Market Update

market news walgreen

Stocks that are expected to trade actively in U.S. trading on Wednesday include Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ:APOL), Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON), Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ:SYNA), Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:SWHC), First Cash Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) and Mistras Group Inc. (NYSE:MG).

Market Levels

U.S. Stock Futures: Dow Futures- 14,751.00 (+0.42%), S&P Futures- 1,589.20 (+0.49%), Nasdaq Futures- 2,873.25 (+0.52%)

World Markets: Shanghai: 1,951.50 (-0.41%), Nikkei 225: 12,834.01 (-1.04%), Hang Seng Index: 20,338.55 (+2.43%), TSEC: 7,784.80 (+1.59%), FTSE 100: 6,163.50 (+1.01%), EURO STOXX 50: 2,598.62 (+2.18%), BSE Sensex: 18,552.12 (-0.41%).

Currencies: EUR/USD: 1.3020 (-0.53%), USD/JPY: 97.72 (-0.04%), GBP/USD: 1.5356 (-0.45%), USD/CAD: 1.0491 (-0.24%), USD/CNY: 6.1474 (+0.03%), AUD/USD: 0.9264 (+0.03%)

Metals: Gold: $1,228.50 (-3.65%), Silver: $18.54 (-5.02%), Platinum: $1,325.70 (-1.84%), Copper: $3.04 (-1.01%)

10-year U.S. Treasury: 2.61% (+0.06), 30-year U.S. Treasury: 3.63% (+0.06)

Market & Economy Update

European bonds surged in today’s session after ECB president Mario Draghi pledged to keep the monetary policy accommodative, boosting demand for fixed income assets. U.S. stock futures jumped in the early session amid better than expected economic data. Consumer confidence, sales of new homes, durable goods orders, all topped economists’ expectations. S&P 500 jumped 0.95 percent to 1,588.03, while Dow Jones was up 0.69 percent to 14,760.31.

Stocks In News

Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL)

Apollo Group’s third quarter earnings tanked 40 percent amid weak enrollment and heavy restructuring costs. Revenues, too, fell short of Wall Street expectations. Though Apollo Group raised its full year income expectations, shares tanked 4.75 percent to $18.46 in the early session.

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON)

Monsanto reported better than expected third quarter results, helped by increase in the price of its Roundup weedkiller. Monsanto earned $909 million or $1.68 a share. Analysts polled by Bloomberg were expecting $1.60 in earnings. However, revenues of $4.25 billion were lower than the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. Shares were down 0.51 percent to $100.50 in the early session.

Synaptics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA)

The Santa Clara-based touchscreen technology company increased its fourth quarter revenues guidance. Synaptics said that it expects higher sales due to strong demand of mobile products. Shares jumped 11.51 percent to $39.93 in the early session.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:SWHC)

The firearms manufacturer’s fourth quarter sales rose 38 percent to $178.7 million. Despite increasing production, the company failed to meet the growing demand for guns. Earnings came at $28.6 million or $0.44 per diluted share. Shares jumped in the early session to $10.

First Cash Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

The pawn store operator said it’s been hurt by the negative volatility in gold price and the Mexican peso. First Cash lowered its full year earnings and revenue guidance. The company’s second quarter forecasts also fell short of Wall Street expectations. Shares tanked 9.4 percent to $50 in the early session.

Mistras Group Inc (NYSE:MG)

Mistras cut its full year earnings guidance due to weak demand. Shares of the infrastructure-testing company plummeted 12.18 percent to $17.95 in the early trading session.

Leave a Comment