Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Go Red, International Speedway Profit Rises 64%

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.26 percent to 14,893.84 while the NASDAQ dropped 0.33 percent to 3,422.20. The S&P also fell, declining 0.58 percent to 1,604.78.

Top Headline

International Speedway ISCA reported a 64% rise in its second-quarter net income.

International Speedway’s quarterly earnings surged to $22.4 million, or $0.48 per share, from $13.7 million, or $0.30 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.51 per share.

Its revenue fell 1% to $178.4 million from $179.6 million.

Equities Trading UP

Leap Wireless International LEAP shot up 6.50 percent to $7.12 after Macquarie upgraded the stock from “underperform” to “neutral.”

Shares of EZCORP EZPW got a boost, shooting up 5.28 percent to $18.34 after analysts at Sterne Agee upgraded the stock from “neutral” to “buy.”

Zynga ZNGA was also up, gaining 3.67 percent to $3.39 on positive Jim Cramer/Mad Money comments.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Overstock.com OSTK were down 7.50 percent to $27.61 after Bank of America downgraded the stock from “buy” to “underperform.”

Deutsche Bank AG DB was down, falling 2.48 percent to $40.11 as S&P lowered its rating to A from A+ Tuesday after the close.

Credit Suisse Group AG CS shares tumbled 3.31 percent to $25.98 after S&P downgraded the bank to A- from A.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.83 percent to $101.42, while gold traded up 0.38 percent to $1,248.10.

Silver traded up 1.25 percent Wednesday to $19.55, while copper rose 0.60 percent to $3.16.

Eurozone

European shares were lower on weaker than expected services PMIs around the globe. The Eurozone Non-Manufacturing PMI rose to 48.3 from 47.2 in May but missed expectations of a reading of 48.6, which was the flash reading earlier this month. Strength in Spain once again was offset by weakness in Germany and Italy.

The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.99 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.31 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX tumbled 1.47 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 1.40 percent while U.K. shares declined 1.50 percent.

Economics

The MBA purchase applications index declined 12% last week versus the previous week.

The US economy added 188,000 private-sector jobs in June, versus a gain of 135,000 jobs in May, Automatic Data Processing reported. However, economists were expecting an addition of 160,000 private jobs.

US jobless claims dropped 5,000 to 343,000 in the week ended June 29. However, economists were estimating claims to total 346,000.

US trade deficit widened 12.1% to $45.0 billion in May. However, economists were expecting a deficit of $40.3 billion.

The Bloomberg Consumer Confidence Index rose to -27.50 for the week ended Jun 30, versus a prior reading of -28.30.

The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 52.20 in June, versus a prior reading of 53.70. However, economists were expecting a reading of 54.00.