Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Rite Aid Earnings Miss Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.02 percent to 16,737.01 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.09 percent to 4,893.54. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.02 percent to 1,995.67.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.22 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Sequenom, Inc. SQNM, up 17 percent, and Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc ANTH, up 15 percent.

Telecommunications services shares fell by 0.98 percent in Thursday’s trading. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included B Communications Ltd BCOM, down 6 percent, and China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) CHA, off 4 percent.

Top Headline

Rite Aid Corporation RAD dropped over 6 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported downbeat earnings for the second quarter and issued a weak forecast.

The Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based company posted quarterly net income of $21.5 million, or $0.02 per share, down from $127.8 million, or $0.13 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Its revenue climbed 17.5 percent year-over-year to $7.7 billion from $6.5 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.04 per share on revenue of $7.6 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc AERI shares shot up 69 percent to $30.34 following Wednesday’s announcement that Rhopressa Phase 3 trial has achieved primary endpoint.

Shares of Cablevision Systems Corporation CVC got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $33.09 after Altice SA agreed to buy Cablevision Systems for around $17.7 billion.

TG Therapeutics Inc TGTX shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $13.52 after the company announced a Special Protocol Assessment agreement with the FDA on the design of its Phase 3 clinical trial of TG-1101.

Equities Trading DOWN

CLARCOR Inc. CLC shares tumbled 14 percent to $47.62 after the company reported weaker-than-expected FQ3 results and lowered its FY15 forecast.

Shares of Apogee Enterprises Inc APOG were down 8 percent to $53.08 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results.

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. WWW was down, falling 8 percent to $24.99. Wolverine Worldwide expected Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.47 to $0.49 per share, and sales to drop 5 percent to 4 percent.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.40 percent to $46.96, while gold traded down 0.26 percent to $1,116.10.

Silver traded down 0.07 percent Thursday to $14.88, while copper rose 0.16 percent to $2.46.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.20 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.45 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.11 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.16 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.01 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.52 percent.

Economics

Housing starts slipped 3.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.13 million units in August. However, economists were projecting starts to decline to 1.17 million.

US jobless claims declined 11,000 to 264,000 in the week ended September 12. Economists were expecting claims to reach 275,000 in the week.

The U.S. current account deficit shrank to $109.7 billion in the second quarter, versus a revised $118.3 billion in the first quarter,

The Philly Fed manufacturing index declined to negative 6.00 in September, versus positive 8.3 in August. Economists were estimating a reading of 6.00 in September.

The FOMC is scheduled to announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.