Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Tapestry Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.15 percent to 25669.63 while the NASDAQ declined 1.46 percent to 7,827.65. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.12 percent to 2,846.43.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the utilities shares rose 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Artesian Resources Corporation ARTNA up 2 percent, and UGI Corporation UGI up 1.5 percent.

In trading on Thursday, information technology shares fell 1.8 percent.

Top Headline

Tapestry Inc TPR reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter and disclosed a $1 billion share repurchase program.

Earnings came in at $0.42 per share, beating estimates of $0.41 per share. Sales came in at $1.33 billion, versus estimates of $1.34 billion.

Coach net sales dropped 0.4 percent to $965 million during the quarter, while Kate Spade sales gained 4.5 percent to $281 million.

Equities Trading UP

Control4 Corporation CTRL shares got a boost, shooting up 41 percent to $24.11 after SnapAV reported the purchase of Control4 for $23.91 per share in cash. Control4 also reported upbeat Q1 earnings.

Shares of TechTarget, Inc. TTGT shot up 16 percent to $20.21 after the company reported upbeat Q1 financial results.

The Stars Group Inc. TSG shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $19.94 after the company announced a partnership with Fox Sports in which Fox will acquire 14.35 million shares of the company.

Equities Trading DOWN

Stamps.com Inc. STMP shares dropped 54 percent to $38.02 after the company cut FY19 EPS and sales guidance.

Shares of Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. SHIP were down 50 percent to $1.81 after the company announced pricing of its $14.3 million public offering at $3.40 per share.

Mer Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. MTSL was down, falling around 45 percent to $0.9027 after the company received a Nasdaq delisting notice.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4 percent to $61.87 while gold traded up 0.1 percent to $1,282.30.

Silver traded down 0.6 percent Thursday to $14.77, while copper fell 0.7 percent to $2.7545.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.8 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.9 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.1 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.8 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 1.2 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.4 percent.

Economics

U.S. trade deficit increased 1.5 percent to $50 billion in March. U.S. exports rose 1 percent to $212 billion, while imports rose 1.1 percent to $262 billion for March.

Initial jobless claims fell 2,000 to 228,000 last week. However, economists were expecting a 215,000 reading.

The Producer Price Index rose 0.2 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.

U.S. wholesale inventories fell 0.1 percent for March.

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

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will speak in New Orleans, LA at 10:45 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Washington DC at 1:15 p.m. ET.

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