Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Jack in the Box Surges Following Earnings Beat; CPI Card Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.27 percent to 17,758.85 while the NASDAQ declined 0.27 percent to 4,747.69. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.15 percent to 2,067.48. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Thursday, the utilities sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ADR) (NYSE: ELP), Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS), and Enbridge Inc (USA) (NYSE: ENB). In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell by 0.70 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), down 22 percent, and Cytori Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: CYTX), down 17 percent. Top Headline Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) reported downbeat results for its first quarter on Thursday.Kohl's earnings dropped 86 percent to $0.17 a share from $0.63 a share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, its net income would have dropped 55% to $58 million from $127 million while earnings would have fallen 50 percent to $0.31 a share from $0.63 a share in the corresponding period of the last year.The company's sales fell 3.7 percent to $3.97 billion from $4.12 billion in the previous year quarter. Both earnings and revenue fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.37 a share and $4.13 billion. Its comparable store sales fell 3.9 percent whereas it recorded a gain of 1.4 percent in the preceding year period. Equities Trading UP Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK) shares shot up 15 percent to $74.66 after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter.Shares of Cnova NV (NASDAQ: CNV) got a boost, shooting up 44 percent to $4.89 as Casino SA announced plans to launch tender offer to acquire Cnova for $5.50 per share. Infoblox Inc (NYSE: BLOX) shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $18.61. Infoblox is said to have received an offer from Thoma Bravo to take the company private, according to sources as reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday. The sources said Infoblox is considering hiring advisers to explore strategic options. Equities Trading DOWN CPI Card Group Inc (NASDAQ: PMTS) shares dropped 45 percent to $4.18 as the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter and lowered its FY16 forecast. Shares of STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA) were down 23 percent to $5.74 as the company reported downbeat results for its first quarter. Parnell Pharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: PARN) was down, falling around 15 percent to $1.65. Parnell Pharma priced 2.55 million shares for $4.2 million.Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.67 percent to $46.54 while gold traded down 0.34 percent to $1,271.20. Silver traded down 1.18 percent Thursday to $17.12, while copper fell 1.57 percent to $2.07. Eurozone European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.01 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.26 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dipped 1.13 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.54 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.95 percent. Economics U.S. jobless claims surged 20,000 to 294,000 in the latest week. Economists were expecting claims to drop to 270,000 in the week.U.S. import prices increased 0.3 percent in April, while export prices gained 0.5 percent for the month.Supplies of natural gas gained 56 billion cubic feet for the week ended May 6, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.