Mid-Day Market Update: Hospira Jumps On Acquisition News; iRobot Shares Slide

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.89 percent to 17,830.81 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.71 percent to 4,750.39. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.83 percent to 2,058.37.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from W.R. Grace & Co. GRA and Ball Corporation BLL.

In trading on Thursday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by just 0.3 percent. Top losers in the sector included Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. FBHS, down 8,2 percent, New York & Company Inc. NWY, off 6.2 percent.

Top Headline

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. KORS issued a downbeat forecast. However, the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter.

The Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong-based company posted quarterly net earnings of $303.7 million, or $1.48 per share, compared to $229.6 million, or $1.11 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Its revenue climbed 29.9% to $1.3 billion from $1.0 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.33 per share on revenue of $1.3 billion.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings of $0.89 to $0.92 per share on revenue of $1.05 to $1.08 billion. Analysts projected earnings of $0.94 per share on revenue of $1.151 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Hospira Inc. HSP shares shot up 35.16 percent to $87.59 after Pfizer Inc. PFE announced its plans to acquire Hospira for $90 per share.

Shares of Glu Mobile, Inc. GLUU got a boost, shooting up 19.79 percent to $4.60 after the company beat fourth-quarter expectations and said it will develop a new game featuring the pop singer Katy Perry.

Tableau Software, Inc. DATA shares were also up, gaining 15.63 percent to $97.37 on better-than-expected Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Clearwater Paper Corporation CLW shares tumbled 16.72 percent to $61.43 on weaker-than-expected Q4 earnings.

Shares of iRobot Corporation IRBT were down 8.47 percent to $29.25 after the company met first-quarter expectations, but offered an outlook below consensus views.

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. GMCR was down, falling 4.26 percent to $116.04 after the company reported downbeat first-quarter results and issued a disappointing outlook.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 5.16 percent to $50.95, while gold traded down 0.28 percent to $1,261.00.

Silver traded down 1.84 percent Thursday to $17.08, while copper fell 0.04 percent to $2.59.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.62 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.75 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.13 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.05 percent while UK shares rose 0.05 percent.

Economics

US jobless claims increased by 11,000 to 278,000 in the week ended January 31. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 290,000.

U.S. productivity declined at an annual pace of 1.8% in the fourth quarter, while unit-labor costs rose 2.7% in the quarter.

The U.S. trade deficit widened 17.1% to $46.6 billion in December, versus revised $39.8 billion in November. Exports declined 0.8% to $194.9 billion, while imports gained 2.2% to $241.4 billion. Economists were expecting a deficit of $38 billion.

Supplies of natural gas declined 115 billion cubic feet in the week ended January 30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. However, analysts were expecting a drop of 114 billion cubic feet to 118 billion cubic feet.

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