Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; KB Home Misses Q4 Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.18 percent to 16,707.13 while the NASDAQ slipped 1.62 percent to 4,757.30. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.23 percent to 1,965.71. China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 7.04 percent today.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, utilities shares slipped by just 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Delta Natural Gas Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: DGAS), up 0.2 percent, and American Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: AMID), up 0.4 percent.

In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares tumbled by 2.08 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: ATI), down 9 percent, and Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ: CENX), down 6 percent.

Top Headline

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results.

KB reported a quarterly profit of $44 million, or $0.43 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $852.8 million, or $8.56 per share.

Its revenue climbed 24 percent to $985.8 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.50 per share on revenue of $1.07 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: DVAX) shares shot up 22 percent to $25.85 after the company reported that both co-primary endpoints met in top line Heplisav-B Phase 3 results.

Shares of Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $17.99 after the company raised its guidance for the fourth quarter. The company's comparable sales slipped 8.9 percent for December.

Inventergy Global Inc (NASDAQ: INVT) shares were also up, gaining 151 percent to $3.11. Inventergy reduced liabilities by $17.3 million as the company amended patent purchase agreement.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) shares dropped 23 percent to $11.45 after the company reported an offering of $75 million in common shares.

Shares of Galena Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ: GALE) were down 31 percent to $0.890 after the company priced 19.8 million shares at $1.10 per share for total gross proceeds of $21.75 million.

Epizyme Inc (NASDAQ: EPZM) was down, falling around 17 percent to $9.58 after the company priced 13.33 million share offering at $9.00 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.39 percent to $32.82, while gold traded up 0.92 percent to $1,102.00.

Silver traded up 0.31 percent Thursday to $14.02, while copper fell 3.66 percent to $2.01.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 2.98 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dipped 2.27 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index tumbled 2.62 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 3.17 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 2.45 percent, while U.K. shares fell 2.55 percent.

Economics

US jobless claims declined to 277,000 in the week ended January 2, versus an unrevised 287,000 in the previous week. However, economists were expecting claims to total 275,000 in the week.