Dow Down 240 Points; OMNOVA Solutions Shares Dip After Q3 Results

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.40 percent to 16,969.12 while the NASDAQ tumbled 1.78 percent to 4,474.22. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.46 percent to 1,969.19.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares dropped by just 0.50 percent. Top gainers in the sector included OGE Energy OGE, up 1.4 percent, and PPL PPL, up 0.6 percent.

Basic materials shares fell by 1.68 percent on Thursday. Top losers in the sector included OMNOVA Solutions OMN, down 18 percent, and HB Fuller Co FUL, off 14 percent.

Top Headline

Scholastic SCHL reported a wider loss for the fiscal first quarter.

The New York-based company posted a quarterly loss of $34.1 million, or $1.05 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $29.9 million, or $0.94 per share. Excluding certain items, the company posted an adjusted loss of $1.03 per share.

Its sales rose 3% to $283.8 million from $276.3 million. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.84 per share on revenue of $285 million.

Equities Trading UP

LipoScience LPDX shares shot up 62.38 percent to $5.18 after the company agreed to be acquired by LabCorp LH for a purchase price of $5.25 per share in cash.

Shares of Radiant Logistics RLGT got a boost, shooting up 7.27 percent to $3.54 on Q4 results.

GoPro GPRO shares were also up, gaining 2.54 percent to $80.45 apparently touched off by rumors the company will launch a new version of its action camera in time for the holiday shopping season.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of HB Fuller Co FUL were down 13.57 percent to $38.01 after the company reported downbeat fiscal third-quarter results and issued a weak Q4 earnings forecast.

Scholastic SCHL shares tumbled 5.38 percent to $32.19 after the company reported a wider loss for the fiscal first quarter.

OMNOVA Solutions OMN was down, falling 16.58 percent to $5.85 after the company posted a drop in its Q3 net income.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.36 percent to $92.47, while gold traded up 0.33 percent to $1,223.50.

Silver traded down 0.89 percent Thursday to $17.55, while copper fell 0.57 percent to $3.04.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.85 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.68 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.35 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.57 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 1.32 percent while UK shares fell 0.99 percent.

Economics

US durable-goods orders fell 18.2% in August, versus a 22.5% rise in July.

US jobless claims increased 12,000 to 293,000 in the week ended Sept. 20.

The preliminary reading of Markit services PMI fell to 58.50 in September, versus economists’ estimates for a reading of 59.00.

US natural-gas inventories climbed 97 billion cubic feet in the week ended Sept. 19, according to the Energy Information Administration. However, analysts were expecting a rise of 92 bcf to 96 bcf.

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