Mid-Day Market Update: Sportsman's Warehouse Gains After Strong Earnings; Hibbett Sports Shares Tumble

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.34 percent to 21,676.27 while the NASDAQ declined 0.09 percent to 6,216.28. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.24 percent to 2,424.09.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the utilities shares climbed by 0.25 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Calpine Corporation CPN, up 10 percent, and Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. CWCO, up 4 percent.

In trading on Friday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 0.34 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Foot Locker, Inc. FL, down 27 percent, and Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB down 14 percent.

Top Headline

Foot Locker, Inc. FL reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Foot Locker earned 62 cents per share in the quarter on revenue of $1.70 billion. Analysts were expecting the shoe and apparel retailer to earn 90 cents per share on revenue of $1.80 billion.

During the quarter Foot Locker opened 24 new stores, remodeled or relocated 38 others and closed 19 and ended the quarter with 3,359 stores in 23 countries.

Equities Trading UP

Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings Inc SPWH shares shot up 30 percent to $4.50 after the company posted upbeat Q2 profit.

Shares of MagneGas Corporation MNGA got a boost, shooting up 55 percent to $0.759. MagneGas reported Q2 preliminary gross profit of $433,547, and revenue of $966,204.

Calpine Corporation CPN shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $14.81 after the company agreed to be acquired by investor consortium led by Energy Capital Partners for $15.25 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Foot Locker, Inc. FL shares dropped 27 percent to $35.05 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Shares of Matson, Inc. MATX were down 25 percent to $22.14. Stephens & Co. downgraded Matson from Overweight to Equal-Weight.

Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB was down, falling around 14 percent to $9.85. Hibbett reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its second quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company also lowered its earnings forecast for the full year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.38 percent to $46.91 while gold traded up 0.58 percent to $1,299.90.

Silver traded up 0.13 percent Friday to $17.075, while copper fell 0.32 percent to $2.9515.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.80 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.86 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.12 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.43 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.88 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.93 percent.

Economics

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index increased to 97.6 for August, versus prior reading of 93.4.

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