Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Oxford Industries Drops On Downbeat Results; Office Depot Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.88 percent to 17,687.34 while the NASDAQ jumped 1.19 percent to 4,739.95. The S&P also rose, gaining 1 percent to 2,046.41.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained 1.32 percent in Thursday’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings CCO, up 11.8 percent, and Lululemon Athletica LULU, up 9.7 percent.
In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares dropped by 0.35 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Teck Resources TCK, down 5.4 percent, and Century Aluminum Co CENX, off 5 percent.

Top Headline
Lululemon Athletica LULU reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings. However, the company issued a downbeat forecast.
The Vancouver, Canada-based company posted a quarterly profit of $60.5 million, or $0.42 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $66.1 million, or $0.45 per share. Its revenue climbed 10% to $419.4 million from $379.9 million. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.38 per share on sales of $424.7 million.
For the fourth quarter, Lululemon projects earnings of $0.65 to $0.69 per share on revenue of $570 million to $585 million. Analysts expected earnings of $0.72 per share on sales of $594.8 million.
Equities Trading UP
Office Depot ODP shares shot up 11.23 percent to $7.48 after Starboard Value boosted its stake in Office Depot.
Shares of Lululemon Athletica LULU got a boost, shooting up 9.21 percent to $51.00 after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings. CLSA analysts upgraded the stock to Buy.

Restoration Hardware Holdings RH shares were also up, gaining 10.54 percent to $95.26 following earnings results that beat analyst expectations.

Equities Trading DOWN

Oxford Industries OXM shares tumbled 7.87 percent to $56.45 after the company reported downbeat financial results and issued a weak guidance.
Shares of Ariad Pharmaceuticals ARIA were down 8.26 percent to $6.44. Credit Suisse downgraded ARIAD Pharmaceuticals from Neutral to Underperform and lowered the price target from $8.00 to $6.00.
Karyopharm Therapeutics KPTI was down, falling 10.30 percent to $33.62 after the company announced the initiation of the SADAL study.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.90 percent to $60.39, while gold traded down 0.20 percent to $1,227.00.
Silver traded down 0.45 percent Thursday to $17.11, while copper rose 0.86 percent to $2.92.

Eurozone
European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.01 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.34 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.09 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.64 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.05 percent while UK shares declined 0.59 percent.

Economics
U.S. retail sales increased 0.7% in November, versus a 0.5% growth in October. However, economists were estimating a growth of 0.4%.
US jobless claims declined 3,000 to 294,000 in the week ended December 6. However, economists were estimating initial claims to reach 296,000 in the week.
US import prices slipped 1.5% in November, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.7% decline.
US business inventories rose 0.20% in October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20% gain.

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