Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Drops 200 Points; Nordstrom Shares Dip On Earnings Miss

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 1.18 percent to 17,242.95 while the NASDAQ declined 1.44 percent to 4,932.84. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.13 percent to 2,022.77. Leading and Lagging Sectors In trading on Friday, basic materials shares rose by 1.22 percent. Top gainers in the sector included LSB Industries, Inc. LXU, up 10 percent, and Airgas, Inc. ARG, up 9 percent. Cyclical consumer goods & services shares dipped around 1.89 percent in Friday's trading. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Fossil Group Inc FOSL, down 35 percent, and J C Penney Company Inc JCP, off 17 percent. Top Headline J C Penney Company Inc JCP reported better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter on Friday. The Plano, Texas-based company reported a quarterly net loss of 137 million, or $0.45 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $188 million, or $0.62 per share. Its net sales climbed to $2.90 billion from $2.76 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.55 per share on revenue of $2.88 billion. Equities Trading UP Planet Fitness Inc PLNT shares shot up 9 percent to $16.35 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for the third quarter and lifted its 2015 forecast. Shares of SouFun Holdings Ltd SFUN got a boost, shooting up 9 percent to $7.63 following announcement of acquisition of controlling stake in Wanli. Syngenta AG (ADR) SYT shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $74.72. Syngenta rejected a $42 billion takeover bid by China National Chemical Corp, Bloomberg reported. Equities Trading DOWN Fossil Group Inc FOSL shares tumbled 34 percent to $33.43. Fossil Group reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter, but the company's sales missed analysts' estimates. Shares of Vipshop Holdings Ltd - ADR VIPS were down 25 percent to $14.02 following release of preliminary Q3 sales numbers. Nordstrom, Inc. JWN was down, falling 17 percent to $52.99 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for the third quarter and lowered its outlook for the year. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 2.40 percent to $40.75, while gold traded up 0.06 percent to $1,081.70. Silver traded down 0.18 percent Friday to $14.20, while copper fell 0.30 percent to $2.17. Eurozone European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.81 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.32 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.08 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.69 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 1 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.98 percent. Economics U.S. producer prices declined 0.4 percent in October, versus economists' expectations for a 0.2 percent growth. U.S. retail sales increased 0.1 percent in October, versus economists' expectations for a 0.3 percent gain. U.S. business inventories declined 0.30 percent in September, versus economists' expectations for a 0.10 percent growth. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 93.10 in November, versus a prior reading of 90.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 91.50. Supplies of natural gas gained 49 billion cubic feet for the week ended November 6, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. However, analysts were expecting a rise of 49 billion cubic feet to 53 billion cubic feet.