Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Falls Over 350 Points; Omeros Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.55 percent to 24,299.10 while the NASDAQ declined 1.48 percent to 7,236.47. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.34 percent to 2,675.49.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, the utilities shares gained 1.91 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. FGP, up 4 percent, and SCANA Corporation SCG, up 4 percent.

In trading on Thursday, financial shares fell 2.35 percent.

Top Headline

Carnival Corporation CCL reported upbeat results for its first quarter and raised its FY18 earnings forecast.

Adjusted earnings came in at 52 cents per share, beating estimates of 43 cents per share. Sales came in at $4.2 billion, versus estimates of $4.11 billion.

Carnival now expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $4.20 to $4.40 per share, versus earlier forecast of $4 to $4.30 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Guess', Inc. GES shares shot up 29 percent to $20.07 as the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

Shares of Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. OMEX got a boost, shooting up 137 percent to $8.966 after the company disclosed positive Mexico Court Decision nullifying a previous denial of application for Don Diego project.

Omeros Corporation OMER shares were also up, gaining 39 percent to $16.13. The maker of a cataract surgery drug called Omidria realized a "big win" from Wednesday's release of the U.S. government spending bill, according to Stat News. Specifically, a policy included in the spending bill includes a pass-through extension for Medicare coverage of cataract surgery.

Equities Trading DOWN

Herman Miller, Inc. MLHR shares dropped 11 percent to $33.30. Herman Miller reported upbeat results for its third quarter, but issued weak forecast for the fourth quarter.

Shares of AbbVie Inc. ABBV were down 14 percent to $97.13 after the company backed away from pursuing early approval of Rova-T after disappointing study data.

G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. GIII was down, falling around 13 percent to $32.45. G-III Apparel posted upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued weak guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.89 percent to $64.59 while gold traded up 0.44 percent to $1,333.10.

Silver traded down 0.30 percent Thursday to $16.37, while copper fell 1.57 percent to $3.0105.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 2.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.02 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 2.32 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 2.29 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 2.20 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.66 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims increased 3,000 to 229,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 225,000 in the week.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.8 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent growth.

The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI climbed to 55.7 in March, compared to previous reading of 55.3. The IHS Markit services PMI slipped to 54.1 in March from 55.9.

The Conference Board’s leading economic index increased 0.6 percent in February, versus a 0.8 percent rise in January.

The Energy Information Administration reported a weekly decline of 86 billion cubic feet in natural-gas supplies. However, analysts were expecting a 87 billion cubic feet drop.