Mid-Afternoon Market Update: L Brands Falls Following Disappointing Sales Report; Herman Miller Shares Surge

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.60 percent to 21,349.83 while the NASDAQ declined 0.70 percent to 6,107.95. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.72 percent to 2,414.94.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares rose by 0.64 percent in the US market on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included Diodes Incorporated DIOD, and AXT Inc AXTI.

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell 1.02 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Patterson Companies, Inc. PDCO, down 7 percent, and Immunomedics, Inc. IMMU, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Liberty Interactive QVC Group QVCA QVCB)) agreed to acquire the outstanding 62 percent shares of HSN, Inc. HSNI in all-stock transaction for a total enterprise value of $2.6 billion.

Liberty Interactive will acquire HSN for $40.36 per share, representing a premium of 29 percent over HSN’s closing price on July 5, 2017. The deal is projected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Equities Trading UP

Beigene Ltd (ADR) BGNE shares shot up 25 percent to $65.55. Celgene Corporation CELG disclosed that it has entered into global strategic immuno-oncology collaboration with Beigene to advance PD-1 inhibitor program for solid tumor cancers. Celgene will acquire 5.9 percent stake in Beigene at $4.58 per share.

Shares of HSN, Inc. HSNI got a boost, shooting up 27 percent to $39.80 after Liberty Interactive agreed to acquire the outstanding 62 percent shares of HSNin all-stock transaction for a total enterprise value of $2.6 billion.

Herman Miller, Inc. MLHR shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $33.70 as the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.18 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tahoe Resources Inc TAHO shares dropped 32 percent to $5.68 following Guatemalan Court suspension of Escobal mining license. BMO Capital downgraded Tahoe Resources from Outperform to Market Perform.

Shares of Egalet Corp EGLT were down 37 percent to $1.59. Egalet reported pricing of public offering of common stock and warrants.

L Brands Inc LB was down, falling around 14 percent to $46.53 after the company reported a 9 percent drop in its June comparable sales. Its net sales also dropped 6 percent to $1.213 billion for the five weeks ended July 1, 2017.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.47 percent to $45.34 while gold traded up 0.21 percent to $1,224.30.

Silver traded up 0.62 percent Thursday to $15.995, while copper fell 0.02 percent to $2.6595.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.67 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.24 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.69 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.58 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.53 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.41 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 158,000 jobs during June, payroll processor ADP reported. However, economists projected a gain of 185,000 jobs.
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The trade deficit declined 2.3 percent to $46.5 billion in May, versus $47.6 billion in April. Economists expected a deficit of $46.3 billion. Exports rose 0.4 percent in May, while imports slipped 0.1 percent.
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Initial jobless claims rose 4,000 to 248,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 243,000 in the week.

The Markit services PMI rose to 54.20 in June, versus prior reading of 53.00. Economists estimated a reading of 53.00.

The ISM non-manufacturing index rose to 57.40 for June, versus previous reading of 56.90. Economists expected a reading of 56.50.

Domestic crude supplies declined 6.29 million barrels for the week ended June 30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts projected a drop of 2.28 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles slipped 3.67 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell 1.85 million barrels last week.

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

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer is set to speak in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, at 7:30 p.m. ET.