Williams-Sonoma Dips On Downbeat Q3 Forecast; Signet Jewelers Shares Jump

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.31 percent to 17,069.84 while the NASDAQ declined 0.22 percent to 4,559.78. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.20 percent to 1,996.21.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 0.01 percent on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Genie Energy GNE, up 3.1 percent, and Regency Energy Partners LP RGP, up 2.1 percent.

In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.19 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Cliffs Natural Resources CLF, down 5.6 percent, and Vale SA VALE, off 4.9 percent.

Top Headline

Dollar General DG reported in-line profit for the fiscal second quarter. However, the company’s revenue missed analysts’ estimates.

The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based company posted a quarterly profit of $251 million, or $0.83 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $245 million, or $0.75 per share.

Its sales climbed 7.5% to $4.72 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.83 per share on revenue of $4.77 billion. Dollar General’s same-store sales rose 2.1% in the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Signet Jewelers SIG shares shot up 6.75 percent to $115.32 after the company reported fiscal second-quarter results.

Shares of CSR plc CSRE got a boost, shooting up 35.36 percent to $51.49 after the company rejected a takeover bid from Microchip Technology MCHP.

Repros Therapeutics RPRX shares were also up, gaining 15.68 percent to $21.07 after the company reported positive top line results from Androxal studies.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Williams-Sonoma WSM were down 11.03 percent to $66.63 after the company issued a downbeat third-quarter earnings forecast. However, the company reported in-line earnings for the second quarter. Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded Williams-Sonoma from Overweight to Equalweight and lowered the target price from $82 to $74.

Guess? GES shares tumbled 8.78 percent to $23.39 after the company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter results and issued a downbeat outlook.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co ANF was down, falling 5.27 percent to $41.68 after the company reported downbeat second-quarter sales.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.59 percent to $94.43, while gold traded up 0.58 percent to $1,290.80.

Silver traded up 0.62 percent Thursday to $19.60, while copper fell 1.42 percent to $3.15.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.66 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 1.06 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.03 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.12 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.65 percent while UK shares dropped 0.36 percent.

Economics

The US economy expanded at an annual pace of 4.2% in the second quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 3.9% growth.

US initial claims declined by 1,000 to 298,000 in the week ended Aug. 23. However, economists were estimating claims to reach 300,000 in the week.

The pending home sales index climbed 3.3% to reach 105.9 in July, from 102.5 in June.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index fell to a reading of 3.00 in August, versus a prior reading of 9.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 7.00.

Data on farm prices for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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