Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Dips 1.5%; HB Fuller Shares Decline On Downbeat Results

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.14 percent to 17,013.29 while the NASDAQ tumbled 1.54 percent to 4,485.16. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.13 percent to 1,975.65.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares dropped by just 0.50 percent. Top gainers in the sector included OGE Energy OGE, up 1.4 percent, and PPL PPL, up 0.6 percent.

Basic materials shares fell by 1.68 percent on Thursday. Top losers in the sector included OMNOVA Solutions OMN, down 18 percent, and HB Fuller Co FUL, off 14 percent.

Top Headline

Scholastic SCHL reported a wider loss for the fiscal first quarter.

The New York-based company posted a quarterly loss of $34.1 million, or $1.05 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $29.9 million, or $0.94 per share. Excluding certain items, the company posted an adjusted loss of $1.03 per share.

Its sales rose 3% to $283.8 million from $276.3 million. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.84 per share on revenue of $285 million.

Equities Trading UP

LipoScience LPDX shares shot up 62.70 percent to $5.19 after the company agreed to be acquired by LabCorp LH for a purchase price of $5.25 per share in cash.

Shares of Radiant Logistics RLGT got a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $3.63 on Q4 results.

MannKind MNKD shares were also up, gaining 3.62 percent to $6.30 after the company announced the closing of global licensing agreement with Sanofi SNY.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of HB Fuller Co FUL were down 14.69 percent to $37.52 after the company reported downbeat fiscal third-quarter results and issued a weak Q4 earnings forecast.

Scholastic SCHL shares tumbled 7.64 percent to $31.42 after the company reported a wider loss for the fiscal first quarter.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals PCRX was down, falling 4.49 percent to $101.51 after the company announced the receipt of the FDA warning letter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.03 percent to $92.83, while gold traded down 0.30 percent to $1,215.90.

Silver traded down 1.25 percent Thursday to $17.48, while copper fell 1 percent to $3.02.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.98 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.99 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.61 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.54 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 1.16 percent while UK shares fell 1.04 percent.

Economics

US durable-goods orders fell 18.2% in August, versus a 22.5% rise in July.

US jobless claims increased 12,000 to 293,000 in the week ended Sept. 20.

The preliminary reading of Markit services PMI fell to 58.50 in September, versus economists’ estimates for a reading of 59.00.

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