Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Dips 1%; Acuity Brands Shares Jump On Earnings Beat

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 1 percent to 17,728.31 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.83 percent to 4,696.98. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.90 percent to 2,043.60.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the telecommunications services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from RRSat Global Communications Network Ltd. RRST and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited CHU.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell by 1.23 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Golar LNG Partners LP GMLP, down 11.7 percent, and Comstock Resources Inc CRK, off 8.1 percent.

Top Headline

Infosys Ltd. INFY reported a 13% gain in net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31. The company also maintained its revenue growth forecast for the year.

The Bengaluru, India-based company posted a quarterly net profit of 32.50 billion rupees ($522 million), versus a year-ago profit of 28.75 billion rupees. However, analysts were expecting a profit of 31.62 billion rupees. In dollar terms, the company's net profit surged 12.7% y/y to $522 million.

Its revenue climbed 5.9% to 137.96 billion rupees. In dollar terms, revenue climbed 5.6% y/y to $2,218 million.

Equities Trading UP

Agenus Inc. AGEN shares shot up 19.95 percent to $4.93 after the company announced a partnership with Incyte.

Shares of Infosys Ltd. INFY got a boost, shooting up 4.53 percent to $33.56 after the company reported higher net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31. The company also maintained its revenue growth forecast for the year.

Acuity Brands, Inc. AYI shares were also up, gaining 5.61 percent to $149.96 after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the fiscal first quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. SBLK shares tumbled 21.59 percent to $5.12 after the company priced 49 million share offering at $5 per share.

Shares of Five Below, Inc. FIVE were down 17.36 percent to $36.05 following updated net sales and earnings guidance for the nine weeks ended January 3, 2015.

The Container Store Group, Inc. TCS was down, falling 12.07 percent to $18.65 after the company narrowed its FY2014 sales guidance. The company posted adjusted per-share earnings of $0.07, in line with estimates. Container Store Group shares dipped 9.01% to $19.30 in after-hours trading.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.01 percent to $47.32, while gold traded up 0.81 percent to $1,218.30.

Silver traded up 0.46 percent Friday to $16.46, while copper fell 0.63 percent to $2.75.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.62 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 4.53 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index tumbled 3.70 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 2.25 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 2.49 percent while UK shares slipped 1.45 percent.

Economics

The U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate shrank to 5.6% from 5.8%. However, economists were expecting an addition of 230,000 nonfarm jobs.

U.S. wholesale inventories increased 0.8% in November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3% growth