Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Macy's Cuts Earnings Forecast

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.49 percent to 17,840.76 while the NASDAQ declined 0.33 percent to 4,793.92. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.35 percent to 2,077.01.

On Wednesday, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included

,

, and

. In trading on Wednesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 30 percent, and

, down 17 percent.

reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but missed analysts' sales estimates. The company also lowered its forecast for the full year. Macy's reported adjusted earnings of $0.40 per share, beating analysts' expectations by $0.04 per share. The company's sales slipped to $5.771 billion, compared with sales of $6.232 billion in the same period of the preceding year. Analysts expected sales of $5.93 billion. Its comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis witnessed a fall of 5.6 percent in the first quarter. On an owned basis, its comparable sales fell 6.1 percent. Going forward, Macy's reduced its earnings guidance for the full year 2016 to $3.15 to $3.40 a share from $3.80 to $3.90 a share projected earlier for the same period. Analysts' expect the company to report earnings of $3.80 a share.

shares shot up 20 percent to $11.60 as the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $3.69 after the company reported upbeat Q1 results and raised its FY revenue guidance.

shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $17.93 as the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its full-year revenue forecast.

shares dropped 36 percent to $3.88 following announcement of termination of merger agreement with

. Shares of

were down 30 percent to $27.95 as the company reported downbeat results for its first quarter and issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter.

was down, falling around 34 percent to $0.710. C&J Energy Services reported Q1 adjusted loss of $0.61 per share on revenue of $269.6 million.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.45 percent to $44.86 while gold traded up 1.10 percent to $1,278.70. Silver traded up 2.80 percent Wednesday to $17.57, while copper rose 1.77 percent to $2.13.

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 slipped 0.63 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 1.31 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.98 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.79 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.82 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.20 percent.

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 0.40 percent for the week ended May 6, 2016.