Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises Over 500 Points; Tiffany Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 2.22 percent to 25,293.82 while the NASDAQ climbed 2.33 percent to 7,247.85. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.79 percent to 2,730.10.


Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the information technology shares climbed 2.5 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cheetah Mobile Inc CMCM up 23 percent, and Nutanix Inc NTNX up 9 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.3 percent.


Top Headline

Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company also raised its earnings forecast for 2018.

Dicks Sporting posted quarterly earnings of $0.30 per share on time charter revenues of $1.857 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.26 per share on revenue of $1.88 billion.

Dicks Sporting now expects FY18 earnings of $3.15 to $3.25 per share, versus previous forecast of $3.02 to $3.20 per share.

 


Equities Trading UP

Gaming Partners International Corporation GPIC shares got a boost, shooting up 71 percent to $13.18 after the company agreed to be acquired by Angel Holdings for $110 million.

Shares of Alliqua BioMedical, Inc. ALQA shot up 160 percent to $4.32 after the company announced plans to spin off and merge its contract manufacturing business with TO Pharmaceuticals LLC to create an independent, publicly traded company focused on cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical therapies.

J.Jill, Inc. JILL shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $5.95 after the company posted upbeat Q3 earnings.


Equities Trading DOWN


Chico's FAS, Inc. CHS shares dropped 38 percent to $4.55 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q3 results.

Shares of Tiffany & Co. TIF were down 12 percent to $92.82 after the company reported downbeat third-quarter sales.

Stein Mart, Inc. SMRT was down, falling around 27 percent to $1.34 after reporting a third-quarter earnings drop.

 

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.12 percent to $51.62 while gold traded up 0.54 percent to $1,226.50.


Silver traded up 1.36 percent Wednesday to $14.415, while copper rose 2.93 percent to $2.806.

 

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.01 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.19 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.18 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.09 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.01 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.18 percent.

Economics

U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 3.5 percent for the third quarter. However, economists were expecting a 3.5 percent growth rate.

U.S. exports declined 4.4 percent during the third quarter, while imports increased 9.2 percent.

U.S. new home sales declined 8.9 percent at an annual rate of 544,000 for October. However, economists were expecting a 553,000 pace.

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index declined to 14.00 for November, versus prior reading of 15.00. Economists expected a reading of 16.00.

Domestic crude supplies climbed 3.58 million barrels for the week ended November 23, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 769,000 barrels. Gasoline stockpiles dropped 765,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles gained 2.61 million barrels last week.

Posted In: NewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
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