Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Falls 200 Points; Hooker Furniture Shares Drop On Weak Earnings

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.14 percent to 17,514.19 while the NASDAQ declined 1.59 percent to 4,842.52. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.43 percent to 2,037.10.

On Thursday, utilities shares gained by 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 2 percent, and

, up 2 percent. In trading on Thursday, financial shares slipped by 1.47 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 7 percent, and

, down 6 percent.

reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter. ConAgra said that it earned $0.68 per share in the third quarter on revenue of $2.924 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.58 per share on revenue of $2.86 billion. ConAgra noted that its Consumer Foods segment saw its operating profit rise to $291 million from $266 million a year ago due to a favorable price/mix, good productivity and lower commodity input costs.

shares shot up 138 percent to $6.93. Lucas Energy, revealed it struck a series of deals with institutional investors enabling them to get $10 million of equity capital. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $39.80 after the company agreed to be acquired by Handy & Harman Ltd

for $40.00 per share in cash.

shares were also up, gaining 58 percent to $22.99 following speculation that the company is working with advisors to handle potential offers, according to sources.

shares dropped 20 percent to $7.00 after the company reported a $4.35 million registered direct offering. Shares of

were down 16 percent to $28.13 as the company reported downbeat Q4 results.

was down, falling around 31 percent to $6.90 as the company announced plans to divest patent business. The company will receive $30 million in cash and $10 million in cash on the second anniversary of transaction closings.

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.68 percent to $36.74 while gold traded up 1.34 percent to $1,240.20. Silver traded up 1.34 percent Thursday to $15.26, while copper fell 3.17 percent to $2.08.

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.77 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.26 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dipped 2.45 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.98 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.90 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.40 percent.

U.S. jobless claims declined 9,000 to 267,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 268,000 in the week.