Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Drops 150 Points; American Eagle Shares Jump Following Strong Results

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.88 percent to 17,372.40 while the NASDAQ declined 0.84 percent to 4,699.47. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.74 percent to 2,032.49. Leading and Lagging Sectors Cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.23 percent in trading on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included American Eagle Outfitters AEO, Perry Ellis International, Inc. PERY, and Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN. In trading on Thursday, telecommunications services shares tumbled by 1.13 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Telecom Argentina SA (ADR) TEO, down 4 percent, and NQ Mobile Inc (ADR) NQ, down 4 percent. Top Headline Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter and issued a strong earnings forecast for the second quarter. The biggest retailer in the world reported adjusted earnings of $0.98 a share for the first quarter. Street estimated earnings of $0.88 a share for the same period. Wal-Mart Stores said its total revenue was $115.9 billion while on a constant currency basis its revenue grew 4.0 percent to $119.4 billion. Street predicted the retailer to generate revenue of $103.22 billion. Going forward, the company expects adjusted earnings to be $0.95-$1.08 a share for the second quarter. Street analysts predict the retailer to deliver earnings of $0.98 a share. Equities Trading UP American Eagle Outfitters AEO shares shot up 16 percent to $15.53 after the company reported upbeat results for its first quarter and named Kyle Andrew as Chief Marketing Officer. Shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $27.78. Urban Outfitters reported in-line earnings for its first quarter, but the company exceeded analysts' sales estimates. Its total comparable sales increased 1 percent for the quarter. Aqua Metals Inc AQMS shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $9.55 as the company reported the signing of definitive agreements with Interstate Batteries. Equities Trading DOWN Cheetah Mobile Inc (ADR) CMCM shares dropped 18 percent to $11.41. Cheetah Mobile reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.11 per ADS on sales of $172.9 million. Shares of Monro Muffler Brake Inc MNRO were down 7 percent to $62.14 as the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results and issued a downbeat forecast. Stage Stores Inc SSI was down, falling around 18 percent to $4.82 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results and lowered its full-year outlook. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 2.08 percent to $47.19 while gold traded down 1.77 percent to $1,251.90. Silver traded down 4.16 percent Thursday to $16.42, while copper fell 1.08 percent to $2.06. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 0.92 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.91 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.78 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 1.35 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.84 percent, while U.K. shares fell 1.67 percent. Economics U.S. jobless claims declined 16,000 to 278,000 in the recent week. However, economists were projecting claims to drop to 270,000. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index declined to negative 1.8 in May, compared to negative 1.6 in April. However, analysts were estimating a reading of positive 3.0. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to a reading of 0.10 for April, versus economists' estimates for a reading of -0.20. The Conference Board's index of leading indicators rose 0.60 percent in April, versus economists' expectations for a 0.40 percent growth. Supplies of natural gas increased 73 billion cubic feet for the week ended May 13, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a gain of 79 billion cubic feet.