Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Korn/Ferry Beats Q2 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 19,254.07 while the NASDAQ declined 0.42 percent to 5,310.42. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11 percent to 2,209.82.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, basic materials shares gained by 0.93 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Hecla Mining Company HL, and Rio Tinto plc (ADR) RIO.

In trading on Wednesday, healthcare shares fell by 1.81 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. NUS, down 9 percent, and Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACHN, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Korn/Ferry International KFY reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Korn/Ferry reported Q2 earnings of $0.59 per share on revenue of $415 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.57 per share on revenue of $391 million.

The company expects Q3 fee revenue of $370 to $390 million and earnings of$0.48 to $0.56 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc ANTH shares shot up 54 percent to $2.27 after the company reported that blisibimod Bright-SC IgA nephropathy continued to demonstrate 48 week positive trend analysis.

Shares of EMCORE Corporation EMKR got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $8.06 after the company posted upbeat Q4 results.

Cumulus Media Inc CMLS shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $1.23 after the company reported an entry into a refinancing support agreement with the holders of 7.75 percent Senior Notes due 2019.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sigma Designs Inc SIGM shares dropped 32 percent to $5.25. Sigma Designs reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $221,000 on revenue of $62.7 million.

Shares of Applied DNA Sciences Inc APDN were down 16 percent to $1.90. Applied DNA Sciences reported a Q4 loss of $2.4 million on revenue of $1.6 million.

Oxford Industries Inc OXM was down, falling around 13 percent to $62.70. Oxford Industries reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its third quarter. The company projects full-year earnings of $3.50 to $3.65 per share, and revenue of $1.02 billion to $1.03 billion.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.92 percent to $50.46 while gold traded up 0.70 percent to $1,178.30.

Silver traded up 1.78 percent Wednesday to $17.11, while copper rose 0.60 percent to $2.70.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.57 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.35 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.24 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.36 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.70 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.35 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity declined 0.7 percent for the latest week.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for October will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.