Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down 1.3%; VMware Shares Gain Following Upbeat Q2 Results

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.07 percent to 18,546.76 while the NASDAQ declined 0.40 percent to 5,035.70. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.22 percent to 2,162.04.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares slipped by just 0.09 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Golden Enterprises, Inc. and Hudson Technologies, Inc..

In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares fell by 2.03 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Century Aluminum Co CENX, down 8 percent, and Olympic Steel, Inc. ZEUS, down 9 percent.

Top Headline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday.

The bank posted quarterly earnings $3.72 per share on revenue of $7.93 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $3 per share on sales of $7.58 billion.

Its revenue from trading fixed income, commodities and currencies climbed 20 percent to $1.93 billion, while revenue from trading increased 2 percent to $3.68 billion in the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Golden Enterprises, Inc. GLDC shares shot up 59 percent to $11.90 following a $12 per share cash bid from Utz Quality Foods.

Shares of Hudson Technologies, Inc. HDSN got a boost, shooting up 35 percent to $5.10 after the company reported that it has been awarded a Department of Defense contract with an estimated maximum value of $400 million.

VMware, Inc. VMW shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $68.34 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Super Micro Computer, Inc. SMCI shares dropped 28 percent to $18.94 after the company lowered its Q4 forecast and announced a $100 million buyback plan.

Shares of Netflix, Inc. NFLX were down 14 percent to $85.20. Netflix posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter, but the company reported weak subscriber growth for the quarter. Netflix added 1.7 million subscribers worldwide during the quarter, well short of the company’s projections.

SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SCLN was down, falling around 21 percent to $10.50. SciClone Pharma reported that it is no longer speaking with acquirers and plans to remain an independent company. The company projects FY2016 earnings of $0.70 to $0.74 per share on sales of $158.0 million to 163.0 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.3 percent to $44.65 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,332.40.

Silver traded down 0.50 percent Tuesday to $19.98, while copper rose 0.96 percent to $2.26.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.41 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.46 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.53 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.81 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.63 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.03 percent.

Economics

U.S. housing starts rose 4.8 percent to an annual pace of 1.19 million in June. However, economists were expecting a 1.17 million pace. Building permits increased 1.5 percent to an annual pace of 1.15 million.