Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Perrigo Slips On Earnings Miss; Sunedison Semiconductor Shares Surge

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.08 percent to 16,467.53 while the NASDAQ dropped 0.49 percent to 4,511.91. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.15 percent to 1,924.00.

On Thursday, utilities shares surged by 1.23 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 5 percent, and

up 5 percent. In trading on Thursday, financial shares fell by 0.85 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 8 percent, and

, down 5 percent.

reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but the company missed analysts' sales estimates. The company also cut its fiscal 2017 sales outlook. Wal-Mart said it earned $1.49 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $129.7 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.46 per share on revenue of $131 billion. A company spokesperson said Wal-Mart reported that on a constant currency basis, total revenue was $134.4 billion, an increase of 2.2%. Comp sales at Wal-Mart U.S. were higher by 0.6 percent in the quarter, while Neighborhood Market comps rose approximately 7 percent. Wal-Mart International net sales were $32.7 billion Wal-Mart lowered its fiscal 2017 sales outlook from 3 to 4 percent growth to "relatively flat." The company also guided its full year earnings per share to a range of $4.00 to $4.30 versus a consensus estimate of $4.17 per share. In an email to Benzinga, the company said that excluding the impact of store closures and a strengthening dollar, annual sales growth would have remained between 3 and 4 percent.

shares shot up 52 percent to $5.58 after the company announced plans to evaluate strategic alternatives for the company. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $35.90 after the company agreed to be acquired by China's Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co Ltd for $38.90 per share in cash.

shares were also up, gaining 26 percent to $25.40 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

shares dropped 16 percent to $64.32 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter. Shares of

were down 11 percent to $129.91 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 earnings.

was down, falling around 12 percent to $36.68. Schweitzer-Mauduit posted Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.91 per share on revenue of $209.8 million.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.29 percent to $30.57, while gold traded up 1.92 percent to $1,234.60. Silver traded up 0.73 percent Thursday to $15.49, while copper fell 0.05 percent to $2.08.

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.83 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 1.53 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.92 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.15 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.97 percent.

New jobless claims declined by 7,000 to 262,000 in the latest week. However, economists were projecting claims to total 275,000 in the week. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index increased to negative 2.8 in February, versus a prior reading of negative 3.5. Economists expected a reading of negative 3. The Consumer Board's leading economic index declined 0.20 percent in January, versus economists' expectations for a 0.20 percent drop. U.S. crude inventories gained 2.15 million barrels for the week ended February 12, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were estimating an increase of 3.9 million barrels. Gasoline inventories increased 3.04 million barrels, while distillate inventories gained 1.4 million barrels last week.