Mid-Day Market Update: Revolution Lighting Technologies Drops Following Reduced FY2017 Outlook; Ascendis Pharma Shares Surge

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.13 percent to 22,329.74 while the NASDAQ declined 0.10 percent to 6,416.11. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.09 percent to 2,498.25.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the energy shares surged 0.38 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. ANW, up 5 percent, and Scorpio Tankers Inc. STNG, up 3 percent.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.33 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included SCANA Corporation SCG, down 2 percent, and TransAlta Corporation (USA) TAC down 2 percent.

Top Headline

CarMax, Inc KMX reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.

CarMax reported Q2 earnings of $0.98 per share on revenue of $4.39 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $0.95 per share on revenue of $4.25 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Ascendis Pharma A/S ASND shares shot up 33 percent to $37.00. Wedbush raised price target on Ascendis Pharma from $36 to $65 following Versartis data.

Shares of TDH Holdings Inc PETZ got a boost, shooting up 39 percent to $8.89. TDH Holdings priced IPO at $4.25 per share.

Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. ALPN shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $11.15. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Alpine Immune Sciences from Hold to Buy.

Equities Trading DOWN

Versartis Inc VSAR shares dropped 86 percent to $3.03 after the company disclosed that somavaratan did not meet primary endpoint in Phase 3 VELOCITY trial. Barclays downgraded Versartis from Overweight to Underweight, while Cowen & Co. downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

Shares of Revolution Lighting Technologies Inc RVLT were down 19 percent to $6.16 as the company lowered its FY2017 sales guidance.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc ICPT was down, falling around 14 percent to $63.68. Shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals lost around one quarter of their value Thursday and another 14 percent Friday in reaction to a concerning U.S. Food and Drug Administration letter sent to doctors regarding its liver treatment product called Ocaliva for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis. Citigroup downgraded Intercept Pharmaceuticals from Buy to Neutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.10 percent to $50.60 while gold traded up 0.40 percent to $1,300.00.

Silver traded up 0.01 percent Friday to $17.02, while copper rose 0.05 percent to $2.936.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.06 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.01 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.18 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.08 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.25 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.70 percent.

Economics

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Oklahoma City at 1:30 p.m. ET.