Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Caleres Rises On Earnings Beat; Juno Therapeutics Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.23 percent to 19,067.53 while the NASDAQ declined 0.29 percent to 5,370.64. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.05 percent to 2,201.93.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, industrial shares gained by 0.54 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Deere & Company DE, and Columbus McKinnon Corp. CMCO.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 0.75 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included California Water Service Group CWT, down 7 percent, and MGE Energy, Inc. MGEE, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Deere & Company DE reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Deere posted Q4 earnings of $0.90 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.40 per share. Its revenue came in at $5.65 billion, versus expectations of $5.38 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Euroseas Ltd. ESEA shares shot up 54 percent to $2.97 after the company reported the purchase of drybulk vessel M/V Capetan Tassos for $4.4 million. The company also announced a deal with a company affiliated with its CEO to draw a $2 million loan to finance working capital needs.

Shares of Caleres Inc CAL got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $31.99 after the company posted upbeat Q3 earnings.

QAD Inc. QADA shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $29.44 after the company posted strong Q3 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cellectar Biosciences Inc CLRB shares dropped 30 percent to $1.52 after the company reported the pricing of its $8,000,000 public offering.

Shares of Juno Therapeutics Inc JUNO were down 27 percent to $21.79 as the company disclosed that it has placed JCAR015 Phase II ROCKET trial on clinical hold after 2 patients suffered cerebral edema earlier this week.

Nimble Storage Inc NMBL was down, falling around 14 percent to $7.94. Nimble Storage reported a Q3 loss of $0.18 per share on revenue of $102 million. The company issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.02 percent to $48.04 while gold traded down 1.75 percent to $1,192.90.

Silver traded down 1.52 percent Wednesday to $16.48, while copper rose 2.82 percent to $2.63.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.28 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.07 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.48 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.42 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.03 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity rose 5.50 percent for the latest week.

U.S. durable goods orders rose 4.80 percent for October, versus analysts’ expectations for a 1.50 percent growth.

Initial jobless claims rose 18,000 to 251,000 in the latest week. Economists were expecting claims to increase to 248,000 in the week.

The Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 53.90 for November, versus a prior reading of 53.40. Economists were expecting a reading of 53.40.

New-home sales declined 1.9 percent to annual rate of 563,000 in October. Economists were expecting a 593,000 pace.
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The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index increased to a final reading of 93.8 in November.

Crude supplies dropped by 1.25 million barrels for the week ended November 18, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting a 250,000 drop. Gasoline supplies rose 2.32 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles gained 330,000 barrels.

Supplies of natural gas dropped 2 billion cubic feet for the week ended November 18, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were expecting a gain of 2 billion cubic feet.

The Federal Open Market Committee released minutes of its latest meeting.