Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Macy's Tops Q2 Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.59 percent to 21,918.79 while the NASDAQ declined 1.24 percent to 6,273.72. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.80 percent to 2,454.21.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the telecommunications services fell by just 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PLDT Inc (ADR) PHI, up 2 percent, and China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) CHL, up 2 percent.

In trading on Thursday, technology shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.38 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Quantum Corp QTM, down 23 percent, and Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Ltd AOSL, down 11 percent.

Top Headline

Macy's Inc DIS reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Macy's posted adjusted earnings of $0.48 per share on revenue of $5.55 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.46 per share on revenue of $5.52 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Hudson Technologies, Inc. HDSN shares shot up 29 percent to $10.30 after the company posted upbeat Q2 results. Air Liquide's Airgas announced a deal with Hudson Technologies for sale of Airgas-Refrigerants unit.

Shares of Perrigo Company plc PRGO got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $77.93 as the company reported upbeat Q2 earnings.

Support.com, Inc. SPRT shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $2.37. Support.com reported Q2 earnings of $0.00 per share on revenue of $14.5 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc BW shares dropped 57 percent to $4.23. Babcock & Wilcox reported a Q2 loss of $151 million on sales of $349.8 million.

Shares of Forterra Inc FRTA were down 46 percent to $4.50. Forterra reported quarterly loss of $0.18 per share on revenue of $436.7 million.

Masonite International Corp DOOR was down, falling around 24 percent to $55.00 as the company posted downbeat quarterly results and lowered its annual guidance. Stephens & Co. downgraded Masonite from Overweight to Equal-Weight.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.11 percent to $50.12 while gold traded up 0.78 percent to $1,289.30.

Silver traded up 1.82 percent Thursday to $17.17, while copper fell 0.05 percent to $2.9255.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.57 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.70 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.24 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dipped 0.80 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.34 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.13 percent.

Economics

U.S. jobless claims increased 3,000 to 244,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 240,000.

The producer price index declined 0.1 percent in July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent growth.

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

The Treasury will auction 30-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for July is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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