Mid-Day Market Update: Conns Surges On Upbeat Results; Francesca's Shares Drop

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Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.15 percent to 15,865.24 while the NASDAQ declined 0.11 percent to 4,033.64. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.18 percent to 1,789.52.

Top Headline
Dollar General (NYSE: DG) reported a 14% rise in its third-quarter profit.

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Dollar General's quarterly profit surged to $237.4 million, or $0.74 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $207.7 million, or $0.62 per share. Its adjusted earnings surged to $0.72 per share versus $0.63 per share.

Its revenue climbed to $4.4 billion from $4.0 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.70 per share on revenue of $4.4 billion. For the full year, Dollar General lifted the lower end of its earnings forecast to $3.18 to $3.22 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $3.15 to $3.22 per share.

Equities Trading UP
Conns (NASDAQ: CONN) shot up 15.03 percent to $67.25 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and raised its outlook.

Shares of Dollar General (NYSE: DG) got a boost, shooting up 5.77 percent to $59.62 after the company reported a 14% rise in its third-quarter profit.

Mattress Firm Holding (NASDAQ: MFRM) was also up, gaining 10.05 percent to $37.68 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results and issued a strong FY14 earnings forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Francesca's Holdings (NASDAQ: FRAN) were down 8.23 percent to $16.61 after the company reported issued a weak Q4 forecast.

Guess' (NYSE: GES) shares tumbled 1.04 percent to $32.99 after the company reported a 7.2% drop in its fiscal third-quarter earnings. The company lifted the lower end of its earnings forecast and cut its revenue guidance for the year.

Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) was down, falling 3.97 percent to $39.87 after the company reported Q3 results.

Commodities

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In commodity news,

oil traded up 0.69 percent to $97.87, while gold traded down 1.98 percent to $1,222.50.

Silver traded down 1.92 percent Thursday to $19.45, while copper fell 0.78 percent to $3.22.

Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 1.51 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 1.43 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.42 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.93 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.06 percent.Economics
U.S. jobless claims declined by 23,000 to 298,000 in the week ended November 30, from a revised 321,000 in the earlier week. However, economists were projecting claims to increase to 320,000.

The U.S. economy expanded by an annual rate of 3.6% in the third quarter, versus an initial reading of 2.8%.

U.S. factory orders declined 0.90% in October, versus economists' expectations for a 1.00% drop.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 31.3 in the week ended December 1, versus minus 33.7 in the previous week.

Supplies of natural gas fell 162 billion cubic feet for the week ended November 29, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a decline of 139 billion cubic feet to 143 billion cubic feet.

Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.