Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Falls Over 100 Points; Kohl's Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.52 percent to 19,838.96 while the NASDAQ declined 0.11 percent to 5,471.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.34 percent to 2,262.94.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Telecommunications services shares gained around 0.86 percent in trading on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Telefonica S.A. (ADR) TEF, and B Communications Ltd BCOM.

In trading on Thursday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 0.59 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Kohl's Corporation KSS, down 20 percent, and Macy's Inc M, down 14 percent.

Top Headline

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, but sales missed expectations.

Walgreens reported adjusted earnings of S1.10 per share on revenue of $28.5 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.09 per share on revenue of $29.2 billion.

Walgreens expects FY17 earnings of $4.90 to $5.20 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.01 per share.

Equities Trading UP

EnteroMedics Inc ETRM shares shot up 113 percent to $4.45 after surging 11.17 percent on Wednesday. EnteroMedics disclosed that its vBloc® Neurometabolic Therapy is now available at MedStar Health in Maryland and Roper St. Francis in South Carolina.

Shares of CTI BioPharma Corp CTIC got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $4.69 after the company reported the removal of full clinical hold on pacritinib.

CEB Inc. CEB shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $75.00 after Gartner Inc IT announced plans to acquire the company for $2.6 billion in cash and stock.

Equities Trading DOWN

AEterna Zentaris Inc. (USA) AEZS shares dropped 27 percent to $2.67 after the company disclosed that Macrilen failed to achieve its objective in Phase 3 trial. The company is evaluating whether it will continue development of Macrilen.

Shares of Kohl's Corporation KSS were down around 20 percent to $41.61 after the company lowered its earnings forecast for fiscal 2016. Kohl’s comparable sales dropped 2.1 percent in November and December.

Macy's Inc M was down, falling around 14 percent to $30.73 after the company announced plans to close 68 stores and reduced its FY16 earnings guidance. The company reported November-December sales comps of -2.1 percent.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.13 percent to $53.33 while gold traded up 1.64 percent to $1,184.40.

Silver traded up 1.11 percent Thursday to $16.74, while copper fell 0.82 percent to $2.54.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.15 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.11 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.15 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.28 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.38 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.05 percent.

Economics

Private sector employers added 153,000 in December, ADP Inc. reported. However, economists were projecting a gain of 172,000 jobs.

Initial jobless claims declined by 28,000 to 235,000 in the recent week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 260,000 in the week.

Markit's U.S. December services PMI edged down to 54.1 from 54.9 during November and the composite PMI slipped to 53.9 from 54.6.

The ISM non-manufacturing index came in unchanged at 57.20 for December, versus a prior reading of 57.20. Economists projected a reading of 56.60.

Supplies of natural gas declined by 49 billion cubic feet for the week ended December 30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts expected a drop of 82 billion cubic feet.

Crude supplies dropped 7.05 million barrels for the week ended December 30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a drop of 2.15 million barrels. Gasoline supplies gained 8.31 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 10.05 million barrels.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.