Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Freshpet Slides On Earnings Miss; Inogen Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.68 percent to 17,284.52 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.38 percent to 5,017.70. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.53 percent to 2,073.00.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares gained by 1.14 percent in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included AES Corp AES, Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais (ADR) CIG, and NRG Energy Inc NRG.
In trading on Wednesday, financial shares dipped by 1.25 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included SVB Financial Group SIVB, down 7 percent, and Resource America Inc REXI, off 9 percent.

Top Headline
Alibaba Group Holding LtdBABA reported downbeat revenue for its fiscal first quarter. However, the company’s earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates.
The Chinese e-commerce giant’s quarterly net income climbed 148 percent year-over-year to $4.97 billion, or $1.92 per share. Its adjusted earnings rose 21 percent to $0.59 per share.
Its revenue climbed 28 percent year-over-year to $3.265 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.58 per share on revenue of $3.39 billion.
Equities Trading UP
Wayfair Inc W shares shot up 28 percent to $48.90 after the company reported a narrower-than-expected loss for the second quarter on Wednesday.

Inogen Inc INGN shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $48.38 after the company reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter.

Shares of Enzymotec Ltd ENZY got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $9.05 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results and raised its FY15 forecast.
Equities Trading DOWN
Freshpet Inc FRPT shares tumbled 5 percent to $13.93 after the company reported a wider-than-expected Q2 loss.
Shares of Phoenix New Media Ltd ADR FENG were down 7 percent to $5.87. Phoenix New Media reported Q2 earnings of RMB$1.19 per share on sales of RMB$410.873 million.
INC Research Holdings Inc INCR was down, falling 8 percent to $44.24 after the company priced its 8 million secondary offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.65 percent to $43.36, while gold traded up 1.37 percent to $1,122.90.
Silver traded up 1.32 percent Wednesday to $15.49, while copper rose 0.84 percent to $2.35.

Euro zone
European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 2.70 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 2.44 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 2.96 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 3.27 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 3.40 percent while UK shares fell 1.40 percent.

Economics
US job openings slipped to 5.25 million in June, compared to 5.36 million in May.
Crude-oil inventories declined 1.68 million barrels to 453.6 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts were expecting a drop of 1.9 million barrels. Total gasoline inventories shrank 1.3 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories gained 3 million barrels.
US budget deficit widened 58 percent year-over-year to $149.2 billion in July, the Treasury Department reported. Analysts were projecting a deficit of $132 billion for July.