Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Abercrombie & Fitch Earnings Miss Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 21,115.01 while the NASDAQ declined 0.20 percent to 5,892.09. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.19 percent to 2,391.30.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed by 0.02 percent in trading on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included RGC Resources Inc. RGCO, and NRG Energy Inc NRG.

In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares fell by 0.74 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Endeavour Silver Corp EXK, down 11 percent, and Greif, Inc. GEF, down 9 percent.

Top Headline

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Thursday.

Abercrombie & Fitch reported Q4 earnings of $0.71 per share on revenue of $1.04 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.75 per share on revenue of $1.05 billion.

Abercrombie & Fitch’s same-store sales dropped 5 percent for the quarter, while comparable sales at Hollister rose 1 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc AUPH shares shot up 42 percent to $5.28 after the company disclosed that Voclosporin met 48-week remission endpoints.

Shares of Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. INFI got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $3.67 as the company announced presentation on IPI-549 at the AACR Annual Meeting.

Vermillion, Inc. VRML shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $2.67 after the company reported a contracted in-network agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for OVA1.

Equities Trading DOWN

Puma Biotechnology Inc PBYI shares dropped 20 percent to $30.40. Puma Biotechnology reported Q4 adjusted loss of $1.22 per share. Puma Biotechnology also reported the publication of abstracts on neratinib for the AACR Annual Meeting 2017

Shares of PTC Therapeutics, Inc. PTCT were down around 17 percent to $10.89 after the company disclosed that Ataluren Confirmatory Trial missed primary and secondary endpoints.

ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc ANIP was down, falling around 12 percent to $52.67. ANI Pharmaceuticals reported a Q4 loss of $1.1 million on revenue of $38.2 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.56 percent to $52.99 while gold traded down 0.80 percent to $1,240.00.

Silver traded down 0.64 percent Thursday to $18.37, while copper fell 0.84 percent to $2.71.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.03 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.14 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.46 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.10 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.11 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims declined 19,000 to 223,000 for the latest week. However, economists were projecting claims to reach 243,000 in the week.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak in New York at 7:00 p.m. ET.