Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down 3.5%; AeroVironment Shares Decline On Q1 Results

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.35 percent to 18,388.83 while the NASDAQ declined 0.25 percent to 5,209.89. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.36 percent to 2,168.24.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.10 percent..

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.72 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Clean Energy Fuels Corp CLNE, down 5 percent, and Frontline Ltd. FRO, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Chico's FAS, Inc. CHS reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter.

The specialty retailer reported net income of $23.0 million, or $0.17 a share, sharply higher than $2.1 million, or $0.02 a share, recorded in the year-ago quarter. However, on an adjusted basis, net income fell from $37.6 million to $33.3 million and EPS from $0.26 to $0.25., which was $0.03 a share higher than the Street estimates of $0.22 a share.

Chico's FAS net sales dipped 7.3 percent from $685.8 million to $635.7 million. Excluding Boston Proper from last year's sales number, its sales would have dropped 3.6 percent hurt by 3.1 percent fall in comparable sales.

Equities Trading UP

Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. SINO shares shot up 18 percent to $1.65 as the company reported a mobile application for short-haul trucking in the US.

Shares of TRC Companies, Inc. TRR got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $7.53. TRC posted Q4 earnings of $0.20 per share on revenue of $132.3 million.

Matrix Service Co MTRX shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $18.58 as the company posted better-than-expected Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Atossa Genetics Inc ATOS shares dropped 28 percent to $2.49. Atosssa Genetrics priced its 1.15 million share offering at $2.50 per share.

Shares of AeroVironment, Inc. AVAV were down 19 percent to $24.11 as the company posted a wider-than-expected loss for its first quarter.

NCI Building Systems Inc NCS was down, falling around 14 percent to $15.27. NCI Building Systems reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.33 per share on revenue of $462.4 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.5 percent to $44.74 while gold traded down 0.42 percent to $1,311.00.

Silver traded up 0.09 percent Wednesday to $18.69, while copper rose 0.05 percent to $2.08.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.35 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.36 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.31 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.61 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.43 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.58 percent.

Economics

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 2.80 percent for the week ended August 26.

Private-sector employers added 177,000 jobs in August, ADP reportet. However, economists were projecting a gain of 175,000 jobs.

The Chicago PMI dropped to 51.50 for August, versus a previous reading of 55.80. Economists expected a reading of 54.00.

The pending home sales index rose 1.30 percent for July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.60 percent growth.

Crude supplies increased 2.28 million barrels in the week ended August 26, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were estimating a gain of 921,000 barrels. Gasoline supplies slipped 700,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles increased 1.5 million barrels.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is set to speak at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance in Beijing at 3:15 p.m. ET.