Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Lululemon Issues Weak Forecast

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.08 percent to 20,674.93 while the NASDAQ rose 0.15 percent to 5,906.44. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.06 percent to 2,362.43.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from AK Steel Holding Corporation AKS and Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell 0.49 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Genie Energy Ltd GNE, down 4 percent, and Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ADR) ELP, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Lululemon posted Q4 adjusted earnings of $1 per share, missing estimate by $0.01 per share. The company expects Q1 earnings of $0.25 to $0.27 per share, with sales of $510 to $515 million.

Equities Trading UP

Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc IDXG shares shot up 24 percent to $3.15. Interpace Diagnostics reported Q4 earnings from continuing operations of $3.25 per share on revenue of $3.122 million.

Shares of Extreme Networks, Inc EXTR got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $7.90 after the company announced plans to acquire Brocade's data center networking business for $55 million.

BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ADR) BVXV shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $6.88 after the company disclosed that it has been approved for a grant from Israel's Ministry of Economy and Industry to build a facility for commercial scale production of its universal flu vaccine candidate M-001.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cartesian Inc CRTN shares dropped 28 percent to $0.800. Cartesian reported Q4 adjusted loss of $0.03 per share on revenue of $16.9 million.

Shares of Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU were down around 22 percent to $51.66 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Gevo, Inc. GEVO was down, falling around 12 percent to $1.03 after the company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.63 percent to $49.82 while gold traded down 0.50 percent to $1,250.40.

Silver traded down 0.31 percent Thursday to $18.20, while copper fell 0.28 percent to $2.67.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.18 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.03 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.05 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.03 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.08 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.20 percent.

Economics

The U.S. economy grew at a pace of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter. However, economists projected a 1.9 percent growth.

U.S. jobless claims declined 3,000 to 258,000 for the latest week. Economists were expecting claims total 248,000 in the week.

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

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Washington, D.C. at 11:00 a.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in New York at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Data on farm prices for March will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank of President William Dudley will speak in Sarasota, Florida at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.