U.S. Stocks Turn Red; 21st Century Fox Shares Surge On Upbeat Results

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.32 percent to 16,391.07 while the NASDAQ declined 0.14 percent to 4,348.92. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.35 percent to 1,913.61.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares surged around 0.57 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte S.A. EDN, up 2.9 percent, and PNM Resources PNM, up 1.7 percent.

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.62 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Thoratec THOR, down 28.4 percent, and PhotoMedex PHMD, off 14.6 percent.

Top Headline

Brinker International

EAT

reported a

drop in its fourth-quarter

profit. However, the company's revenue topped analysts' estimates.

The Dallas, Texas-based company posted a quarterly profit of $28.8 million, or $0.43 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $46.4 million, or $0.64 per share. Excluding items, its earnings climbed 10.4% to $0.85 per share from $0.77 per share.

Its total revenue gained 3.9% to $758.7 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.86 per share on revenue of $749.7 million.

Equities Trading UP Lehigh Gas Partners LP LGP shares shot up 24.13 percent to $32.25 after CST Brands CST announced its plans to acquire Lehigh Gas GP LLC, the general partner of Lehigh Gas Partners LP. Lehigh Gas Partners also reported its financial results for the second quarter.

Shares of Twenty-First Century Fox FOXA got a boost, shooting up 6.53 percent to $34.44 after the company reported upbeat fourth-quarter results. Cowen & Company upgraded 21st Century Fox from Underperform to Market Perform and raised the price target from $29.00 to $35.00.

Stratasys SSYS shares were also up, gaining 17.72 percent to $116.44 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and lifted its forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Thoratec

THOR

were down 28.46 percent to $23.30 after the company reported downbeat second-quarter sales and issued a disappointing 2014 earnings outlook.

Atmel ATML shares tumbled 7.50 percent to $7.96 after the company reported in-line Q2 earnings. Bank of America downgraded Atmel from Buy to Neutral.

Melco Crown Entertainment MPEL was down, falling 3.25 percent to $29.04 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.

Commodities

In commodity news,

oil traded down 0.20 percent

to $96.73, while gold traded down 0.02 percent to $1,308.00.

Silver traded down 0.39 percent Thursday to $19.95, while copper rose 0.36 percent to $3.18.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.71 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 1.79 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 2.10 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.99 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 1.40 percent while UK shares dipped 0.65 percent.

Economics

US initial jobless claims declined 14,000 to 289,000 in the week ended August 2. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 304,000 in the week.

Natural-gas supplies climbed 82 billion cubic feet in the week ended August 4, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were estimating a rise of 81 bcf to 85 bcf. Data on consumer credit for June will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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

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