Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.36 percent to 21,944.96 while the NASDAQ declined 0.65 percent to
6,303.79. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.39 percent to 2,458.50.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Thursday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.43 percent.
In trading on Thursday, technology shares fell by 0.89 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included NetApp Inc.
(NASDAQ: NTAP), down 6 percent, and Quantum Corp
(NYSE: QTM) down 6 percent.
Top Headline
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) reported
stronger-than-expected results for its second-quarter.
Wal-Mart said it earned $1.08 per share in the quarter on revenue of $123.4 billion. Analysts were expecting the company to earn
$1.07 per share on revenue of $122.8 billion.
Looking forward, Walmart guided its third-quarter earnings per share to be in a range of 90–98 cents while analysts were
modeling the company to earn 98 cents per share. For the full fiscal year 2018, the company guided its earnings per share to be
$4.30–$4.40 versus expectations of $4.37 per share.
Equities Trading UP
China Lodging Group, Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ: HTHT)
shares shot up 8 percent to $107.97 after the company reported strong results for its second quarter.
Shares of Stage Stores Inc (NYSE: SSI) got a boost,
shooting up 25 percent to $1.89. Stage Stores reported Q2 adjusted loss of $0.15 per share on sales of $377.1 million. The company
also raised its FY 17 guidance.
Myovant Sciences Ltd (NYSE: MYOV) shares were also
up, gaining 20 percent to $11.90. Evercore ISI Group initiated coverage on Myovant Sciences with an Outperform rating and a $35.00
price target.
Equities Trading DOWN
Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE: BGG) shares
dropped 13 percent to $21.04 after the company reported downbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the
full year.
Shares of Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE)
were down 13 percent to $13.57. Lakeland priced its 725,000 share offering at $13.80 per share. Lakeland expects Q2 earnings of
$0.19 to $0.21 per share on sales of $23 million to $25 million.
Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) was down, falling
around 27 percent to $0.615. Netlist priced 8.5 million shares at $0.60 per share.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.06 percent to $46.81 while gold traded up 0.60 percent to $1,290.60.
Silver traded up 0.68 percent Thursday to $17.055, while copper fell 0.69 percent to $2.9555.
Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.58 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.01 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.73 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.56 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.68
percent while U.K. shares fell 0.59 percent.
Economics
U.S. initial jobless claims declined 12,000 to 232,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach
240,000 last week.
The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index dropped to 18.90 for August, versus a prior reading of 19.50. Economists projected a
reading of 18.50.
U.S. industrial production rose 0.2 percent for July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth.
The index of leading economic indicators gained 0.3 percent for July.
Domestic supplies of natural gas increased 53 billion cubic feet for the week ended August 11, the U.S. Energy Information
Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a gain of 47 billion cubic feet.
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Lubbock, Texas at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari will speak in Edina, Minnesota at 1:45 p.m. ET.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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