Dow Hits 17,000 On Jobs Report; Walgreen Same-Store-Sales Surge 7.5%

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.43 percent to 17,048.94 while the NASDAQ surged 0.37 percent to 4,474.01. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.35 percent to 1,981.49.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Thursday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.56 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Rite Aid RAD, up 5.7 percent, and Lorillard LO, up 4.8 percent.

Utilities shares dropped 0.78 percent in today’s trading. Top decliners in the sector included Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo SBS, down 1.7 percent, and Public Service Enterprise Group PEG, off 1.9 percent.

Top Headline

Walgreen Co WAG reported a 7.5% rise in its same-store sales in June.

Walgreen’s overall sales climbed 8.9% to $6.28 billion. Its same-store sales in the pharmacy section climbed 11.3% in June.

Walgreen’s same-store customer traffic declined 2%.

Equities Trading UP

PetSmart PETM shares shot up 12.76 percent to $67.43 on news that activist investor Barry Rosenstein had acquired a 9.9 percent stake and will seek a review of strategic alternatives.

Shares of Lululemon Athletica LULU got a boost, shooting up 3.26 percent to $42.75 after Dow Jones reported that the company’s founder Dennis Wilson, is exploring options , including a potential sale of the company to private equity.

Cree CREE shares were also up, gaining 3.94 percent to $52.29. Oppenheimer upgraded Cree from Market Perform to Outperform.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of SYNNEX SNX were down 5.46 percent to $69.89 after the company issued a downbeat outlook for the third quarter. It expected adjusted earnings of $1.45 to $1.50 per share on revenue of $3.3 billion to $3.4 billion. Analysts were projecting earnings of $1.53 per share on revenue of $3.29 billion.

NQ Mobile NQ shares tumbled 34.32 percent to $4.44 after the company announced certain changes to its Board of Directors and provided a status update on its 2013 annual audit.

BIND Therapeutics BIND was down, falling 10.56 percent to $11.52 after the company reported the closing of collaboration deal with Amgen AMGN.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.43 percent to $104.03, while gold traded down 1.07 percent to $1,316.70.

Silver traded down 1.04 percent Thursday to $21.08, while copper fell 0.15 percent to $3.26.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today.

The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.73 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.37 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.90 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.79 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.69 percent while UK shares climbed 0.66 percent.

Economics

The US economy added 288,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate declined to 6.1% versus 6.3%. However, economists were expecting an addition of 215,000 nonfarm jobs.

US jobless claims increased 2,000 to 315,000 in the week ended June 28. However, economists were projecting claims to reach 314,000 in the week.

US trade deficit narrowed 5.6% in May to $44.4 billion in May. The country’s exports increased 1% to $195.5 billion, while imports declined 0.3% to $239.8 billion.

The final reading of Markit PMI Services index fell to 61.00 in June, versus a prior reading of 61.20. However, economists were expecting a reading of 61.00.

Announced layoffs declined 31,343 in June versus 52,961 in May, according to outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 56.00 in June, versus a prior reading of 56.30. However, economists were expecting a reading of 56.30.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills. The Treasury will also auction 3-and 10-year notes.

Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.