Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Vera Bradley Surges On Narrower-Than-Expected Loss; EnerSys Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.21 percent to 20,985.26 while the NASDAQ declined 0.25 percent to 6,187.97. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21 percent to 2,407.81.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Healthcare sector was the top gainer in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included EXACT Sciences Corporation EXAS, Depomed Inc DEPO, and The Medicines Company MDCO.

In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares fell 0.71 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Intrepid Potash, Inc. IPI, down 5 percent, and Vale SA (ADR) VALE, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd KORS posted a loss for its fourth quarter loss and announced plans to close between 100 and 125 stores over the next 2 years.

The company also issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter. However, the company’s adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter exceeded expectations.

Michael Kors posted Q4 earnings of $0.73 per share on revenue of $1.06 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.70 per share on revenue of $1.05 billion.

Equities Trading UP

J.Jill Inc JILL shares shot up 11 percent to $12.47. J Jill posted Q1 earnings of $0.24 per share on sales of $166.1 million. J Jill expects Q2 earnings of $0.27 to $0.29 per share.

Shares of Vera Bradley, Inc. VRA got a boost, shooting up 11 percent to $9.40 as the company posted a narrower-than-expected Q1 loss.

Columbus McKinnon Corp. CMCO shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $27.75. Columbus McKinnon posted Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.40 per share on revenue of $183.7 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd KORS shares dropped 10 percent to $32.68 after the company posted a loss for its fourth quarter loss and announced plans to close between 100 and 125 stores over the next 2 years. The company also issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter.

Shares of EnerSys ENS were down 8 percent to $76.30. EnerSys posted Q4 net earnings of $33.8 million, or $0.76 per share. Net sales rose 3 percent to $626.8 million.

Golar LNG Limited (USA) GLNG was down, falling around 7 percent to $23.60 after the company reported interim Q1 results. The company posted an operating loss of $41.4 million and EBITDA of $16.2 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.48 percent to $48.43 while gold traded up 0.70 percent to $1,274.60.

Silver traded down 0.18 percent Wednesday to $17.395, while copper rose 0.66 percent to $2.581.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.13 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.03 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.40 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.13 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.42 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.09 percent.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 1.1 percent during the first four weeks of May versus April.

The Chicago PMI declined to a reading of 55.2 in May, versus 58.3.

The pending home sales index dropped 1.3 percent to 109.8 in April, versus a revised reading of March. Economists were expecting a 0.3 percent gain in April.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its latest Beige Book report.

Data on farm prices for May will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Seoul at 7:30 p.m. ET.