Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Hibbett Sports Falls On Downbeat Earnings; Acorn International Shares Surge

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.35 percent to 24,725.45 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.11 percent to 7,432.90. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.36 percent to 2,717.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Friday afternoon, the utilities shares surged 0.43 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Spark Energy, Inc. SPKE, up 4 percent, and Westar Energy, Inc. WR up 3 percent.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 3 percent.

Top Headline

Foot Locker, Inc. FL reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share on revenue of $2.025 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.25 per share on revenue of $1.96 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Shoe Carnival, Inc. SCVL shares shot up 19 percent to $31.45 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings

Shares of Acorn International, Inc. ATV got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $28.6813 after the company declared a special one-time cash dividend of $14.97 per ADS.

Foot Locker, Inc. FL shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $54.37 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zoe's Kitchen, Inc. ZOES shares dropped 38 percent to $9.00 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter. The company also lowered its FY18 sales outlook from $358million-$368 million to $345 million-$352 million.

Shares of 8x8, Inc. EGHT were down 16 percent to $18.52 after reporting downbeat quarterly earnings.

Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB was down, falling around 15 percent to $24.60 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.48 percent to $67.54 while gold traded down 0.08 percent to $1,308.70.

Silver traded down 0.82 percent Friday to $16.55, while copper fell 0.57 to $3.0785.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.14 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.7 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.54 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.65 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.11 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.18 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders fell 1.7 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.4 percent drop.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 98 points in May, versus a reading of 98.8 in April. Economists projected a reading of 98.9.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 15 to 859 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.