Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Daktronics Drops Following Downbeat Results; Galena Biopharma Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 17,784.70 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.17 percent to 4,956.31. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.06 percent to 2,098.28. Leading and Lagging Sectors Wednesday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. In trading on Wednesday, telecommunications services shares fell by 0.58 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included General Communication, Inc. GNCMA, down 5 percent, and IDT Corporation IDT, down 4 percent. Top Headline Michael Kors Holdings Ltd KORS reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings and issued a strong FY earnings forecast. The company announced a new $1 billion share buyback program. Michael Kors also revealed that it completed Michael Kors (HK) Limited acquisition, the exclusive licensee of the Company in China and some other jurisdictions in Asia. Michael Kors said it earned $0.98 per in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.2 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.97 per share on revenue of $1.2 billion. Michael Kors also provided guidance for its first quarter 2017 and expects total revenue to be in a range of $940 million to $950 million and earnings per share to be $4.47 to $4.55. Wall Street analysts were already estimating the company to see revenue of $1.03 billion in the quarter and earn $4.42 per share. Equities Trading UP Demandware Inc DWRE shares shot up 56 percent to $74.80 as salesforce.com, inc. CRM announced plans to buy Demandware in a $2.8 billion deal. Shares of Ocean Power Technologies Inc OPTT got a boost, shooting up 269 percent to $5.64 following announcement of deal with Mitsui. The company entered into a definitive agreement for a PB3 PowerBuoy lease agreement with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding. Galena Biopharma Inc GALE shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $2.17 as the company disclosed that the Food and Drug Administration has designated its NeuVax (nelipepimut-S), combined with recombinant granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), as a Fast Track development program.. Equities Trading DOWN Ampliphi Biosciences Corp APHB shares dropped 29 percent to $2.23 as the company reported the pricing of its offering of 2,127,660 shares of common stock and warrants. Shares of Daktronics, Inc. DAKT were down 18 percent to $6.54 as the company reported downbeat Q4 results. CymaBay Therapeutics Inc CBAY was down, falling around 16 percent to $2.05. H.C. Wainwright downgraded CymaBay Therapeutics from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $6.00 to $2.25. On Tuesday, CymaBay Therapeutics announced top-line efficacy and safety data from its Phase 2 study of Mbx-805. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 0.45 percent to $48.88 while gold traded down 0.23 percent to $1,214.70. Silver traded down 0.31 percent Wednesday to $15.95, while copper fell 1.15 percent to $2.07. Eurozone European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 slipped 0.96 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.30 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 1.19 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.57 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.67 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.62 percent. Economics The Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 50.70 in May, versus a prior reading of 50.50. However, economists were expecting a reading of 50.50. U.S. construction spending declined 1.80 percent for April, versus economists' expectations for a 0.60 percent growth. The ISM manufacturing index gained to 51.30 in May, versus a previous reading of 50.80. Economists were projecting a reading of 50.50. The Federal Reserve released its latest Beige Book report.