Mid-Day Market Update: Infoblox Gains On Upbeat Results; Gap Shares Decline

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.07 percent to 17,081.41 while the NASDAQ declined 0.08 percent to 4,558.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.05 percent to 1,998.69.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 0.37 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included WGL Holdings WGL, up 2 percent, and PG&E NYSE: PCG), up 1.5 percent.

In trading on Friday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.67 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Achillion Pharmaceuticals ACHN, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals KERX, and Repros Therapeutics RPRX.

Top Headline

On Thursday, Zumiez ZUMZ issued a weak third-quarter forecast. However, the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.

Zumiez reported its Q2 earnings of $0.26 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.23 per share. The company expected Q3 earnings of $0.49 to $0.52 per share, versus analysts’ expectations of $0.54 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Infoblox BLOX shares shot up 6.74 percent to $14.50 after the company reported upbeat results for the fiscal fourth quarter.

Shares of Ambarella AMBA got a boost, shooting up 2.68 percent to $36.73 on upbeat quarterly results.

El Pollo Loco Holdings LOCO shares were also up, gaining 3.05 percent to $35.85 after the company reported stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Zumiez ZUMZ were down 11.63 percent to $28.64 after the company issued a weak third-quarter earnings forecast. However, the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Zumiez from Overweight to Neutral.

The Gap GPS shares tumbled 4.85 percent to $44.33 after the company posted a 2% drop in August same-store sales, versus analysts’ expectations for a 1.6% gain.

Michael Kors Holdings KORS was down, falling 4.25 percent to $76.57 after the company priced 11.6 million shares at $76.75 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.89 percent to $93.61, while gold traded up 0.04 percent to $1,267.00.

Silver traded down 0.04 percent Friday to $19.13, while copper rose 0.16 percent to $3.16.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.48 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.21 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.29 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.15 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.26 percent while UK shares dropped 0.40 percent.

Economics

The US economy added 142,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate declined to 6.1% in the month. However, economists were projecting an addition of 228,000 nonfarm jobs.