Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Dollar Tree Profit Tops Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.07 percent to 21,796.91 while the NASDAQ declined 0.09 percent to 6,273.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.09 percent to 2,441.97.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the healthcare shares climbed by 0.22 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included China Cord Blood Corp CO, up 10 percent, and Immunomedics, Inc. IMMU, up 6 percent.

In trading on Thursday, telecommunications services shares fell by 0.38 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (ADR) CHU, down 7 percent, and NTT Docomo Inc (ADR) DCM down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR posted upbeat quarterly earnings and increased its FY17 guidance.

Dollar Tree earned $0.99 per share in the second quarter on revenue of $5.28 billion. However, Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.87 per share on revenue of $5.24 billion.

Dollar Tree now projects expects full-year net sales of $22.07 billion to $22.28 billion, versus its prior forecast of $21.95 billion to $22.25 billion. The company now projects full-year profit of $4.44 to $4.60 per share, compared to its earlier outlook of $4.17 to $4.43 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG shares shot up 20 percent to $62.49 as the company posted stronger-than-expected Q2 profit and reported a deal to buy R2Net for $328 million in cash.

Shares of Michaels Companies Inc MIK got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $22.31 as the company posted upbeat quarterly earnings.

China Cord Blood Corp CO shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $13.75. China Cord Blood reported Q1 earnings of $0.09 per share on sales of $33.074 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Hormel Foods Corp HRL shares dropped 7 percent to $31.54 after the company reported weaker-than-expected profit for its third quarter and lowered its FY17 earnings outlook.

Shares of J M Smucker Co SJM were down 8 percent to $109.55 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results and lowered its FY18 forecast.

Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc IMNP was down, falling around 44 percent to $1.24 after surging 83.33 percent on Wednesday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.35 percent to $48.24 while gold traded down 0.18 percent to $1,292.40.

Silver traded down 0.44 percent Thursday to $17.05, while copper rose 0.50 percent to $3.018.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.46 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.63 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.18 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.39 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.22 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.48 percent.

Economics

Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi are projected to speak at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.

U.S. initial jobless claims rose 2,000 to 234,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 238,000 last week.

U.S. existing home sales declined 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.44 million for July. However, economists expected a 5.57 million rate.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for August will be released at 11:30 a.m. ET.

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