U.S. Stocks Turn Lower; Dillard's Shares Slide On Downbeat Earnings

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.49 percent to 16,632.51 while the NASDAQ declined 0.20 percent to 4,444.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.29 percent to 1,949.57.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped by 0.51 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Biglari Holdings BH, down 3 percent, and Dillard's DDS, off 6.3 percent.

Top Headline

JC Penney reported a quarterly loss of $0.75 per share on revenue of 2.80 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of a $0.93 loss on revenue of 2.79 billion. The company’s same-store sales climbed 6% in the quarter.

Equities Trading UP Monster Beverage MNST shares shot up 27.24 percent to $91.17. Coca-Cola Company KO and Monster Beverage announced a long-term strategic partnership. As part of the deal, Coca-Cola will buy a 16.7% equity stake in Monster.

Shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals ACHN got a boost, shooting up 11.67 percent to $9.43 on hepatitis C drug study.

SINA SINA shares were also up, gaining 4.55 percent to $50.00 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Weibo WB were down 6.85 percent to $19.99 on Q2 results.

Dillard's DDS was down, falling 6.06 percent to $108.60 after the company reported weaker-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Commodities

Silver traded down 1.66 percent Friday to $19.58, while copper rose 0.37 percent to $3.12.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.40 percent, while the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.71 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.44 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.74 percent while UK shares gained 0.10 percent.

Economics

US producer prices rose 0.1% in July. US industrial production climbed 0.4% in July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3% gain.

The preliminary reading of Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 79.20 in August, versus a prior reading of 81.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 82.50.