Lumber Liquidators Falls On Weak Forecast; Zumiez Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.65 percent to 16,875.19 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.71 percent to 4,387.76. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.58 percent to 1,961.48.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.32 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Korea Electric Power KEP, Companhia Energética CIG, and Pampa Energia SA PAM.

Energy shares dropped around 1.04 percent in trading on Thursday. Top decliners in the sector included CGG CGG, down 7.5 percent, and Kosmos Energy KOS, off 5.7 percent.

Top Headline

Family Dollar FDO reported a drop in its fiscal third-quarter profit.

Family Dollar’s quarterly net earnings fell to $81.1 million, or $0.71 per share, versus $120.9 million, or $1.05 per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.85 per share.

Its revenue increased 3.3% to $2.66 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.89 per share on revenue of $2.62 billion. Family Dollar’s comparable store sales dropped 1.8% for the 13-week period.

Equities Trading UP

Cray CRAY shares shot up 15.39 percent to $31.41 after the company announced a $174 million contract.

Shares of Zumiez ZUMZ got a boost, shooting up 7.61 percent to $30.13 as the company boosted its outlook and reported strong results for June. D.A. Davidson & Co analyst Andrew Burns reiterated a Buy rating on Zumiez and raised the price target from $35.00 to $36.00. United Continental Holdings UAL shares were also up, gaining 8.31 percent to $43.40 after the company said its consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile increased more than forecast in the second quarter. Lumber Liquidators Holdings LL shares tumbled 22.34 percent to $54.69 after the company lowered its earnings forecast for the year. Jefferies downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and cut the price target from $115.00 to $57.00.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics SRPT were down 16.80 percent to $21.54 after the company offered long-term outcomes through 144 weeks from Phase IIb study of eteplirsen in DMD.

Tractor Supply Company TSCO was down, falling 2.66 percent to $59.75 after the company issued a second-quarter profit warning. The company projected earnings of $0.94 to $0.95 per share on sales of $1.58 billion.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.27 percent to $102.01, while gold traded up 1.09 percent to $1,338.70.

Silver traded up 1.81 percent Thursday to $21.45, while copper rose 0.74 percent to $3.27.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.88 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 1.94 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.62 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 1.31 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 1.29 percent while UK shares tumbled 0.48 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims fell by 11,000 to 304,000 in the week ended July 5, versus an unrevised 315,000 in the week ended June 28. However, economists were projecting claims to rise to 320,000 in the week.

US wholesale inventories rose 0.5% in May, while wholesale sales increased 0.7%.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index surged to 37.6 in the week ended July 6, versus a reading of 36.4 in the earlier period.

Supplies of natural gas rose 93 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 4, the US Energy Information Administration said. However, analysts were expecting a rise of 90 billion cubic feet to 94 billion cubic feet.

Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.