Mid-Day Market Update: Nutanix Surges Following Upbeat Q4 Results; Trans World Entertainment Shares Slide

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.31% to 26377.16 while the NASDAQ rose 1.53% to 7976.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.3% to 2,925.36.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 1.7% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Matrix Service Company MTRX, up 16%, and Denbury Resources Inc. DNR, up 10%.

In trading on Thursday, consumer staples shares rose by just 0.05%.

Top Headline

Dollar General Corp. DG reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised FY19 outlook.

Dollar General reported second-quarter earnings of $1.74 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.57. The company reported quarterly sales of $6.98 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $6.89 billion.

Dollar General raised FY19 net sales growth from 7% to 8%; and diluted EPS guidance from $6.30-$6.50 to $6.36-$6.51. The company continues to expect share repurchases of approximately $1 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Castle Brands Inc. ROX shares shot up 89% to $1.26 after the company agreed to be acquired by Penrod Ricard for $223 million.

Shares of Nutanix, Inc. NTNX got a boost, shooting up 30% to $25.39 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.

Guess?, Inc. GES shares were also up, gaining 27% to $19.16 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also issued FY20 EPS guidance above analyst estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Micro Focus International plc MFGP shares tumbled 32% to $12.76 after the company lowered its 2019 financial forecast.

Shares of Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. OLLI were down 24% to $58.93 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results.

Trans World Entertainment Corporation TWMC was down, falling 31% to $3.64 after the company reported Q2 EPS and sales results down from last year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.5% to $56.60, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,546.40.

Silver traded up 0.8% Thursday to $18.595, while copper rose 1% to $2.5805.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.04%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.54%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.94%. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.18% and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.51% while UK shares rose 0.98%.

Economics

Gross domestic product expanded at an annual pace of 2% in the second quarter, the government reported. Economists were projecting a 2% growth.

The trade deficit in goods shrank to $72.3 billion in July, versus $74.2 billion in the previous month. However, economists were expecting a gap of $74 billion. Advanced wholesale inventories rose 0.2%, while retail inventories gained 0.8% in July.

Initial jobless claims rose 4,000 to 215,000 in the latest week. Economists projected a reading of 215,000.

The pending home sales index fell 2.5% for July.

Domestic supplies of natural gas climbed 60 billion cubic feet for the week ended August 23, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 57 billion cubic feet.

The Treasury will auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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