U.S. Stocks Turn Lower; Dillard's Shares Slide On Downbeat Earnings

Related BZSUM Markets Gain; J.C. Penney Posts Narrower-Than-Expected Q2 Loss #PreMarket Primer: Friday, August 15: Nouri al-Maliki Steps Down

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.49 percent to 16,632.51 while the NASDAQ declined 0.20 percent to 4,444.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.29 percent to 1,949.57.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Friday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.42 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ), up 9.4 percent, and Goodrich Petroleum (NYSE: GDP), up 6.2 percent.

Cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped by 0.51 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Biglari Holdings (NYSE: BH), down 3 percent, and Dillard's (NYSE: DDS), off 6.3 percent.

Top Headline

On Thursday, J. C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) reported a narrower-than-expected second-quarter results.

JC Penney reported a quarterly loss of $0.75 per share on revenue of 2.80 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of a $0.93 loss on revenue of 2.79 billion.

The company’s same-store sales climbed 6% in the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST) shares shot up 27.24 percent to $91.17. Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and Monster Beverage announced a long-term strategic partnership. As part of the deal, Coca-Cola will buy a 16.7% equity stake in Monster.

Shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN) got a boost, shooting up 11.67 percent to $9.43 on hepatitis C drug study.

SINA (NASDAQ: SINA) shares were also up, gaining 4.55 percent to $50.00 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Weibo (NASDAQ: WB) were down 6.85 percent to $19.99 on Q2 results.

Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) shares tumbled 3.93 percent to $65.99 after the company reported Q2 results. The company reported earnings of $183 million, or $0.95 per share.

Dillard's (NYSE: DDS) was down, falling 6.06 percent to $108.60 after the company reported weaker-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.20 percent to $96.73, while gold traded down 0.72 percent to $1,306.20.

Silver traded down 1.66 percent Friday to $19.58, while copper rose 0.37 percent to $3.12.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.40 percent, while the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.71 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.44 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.74 percent while UK shares gained 0.10 percent.

Economics

The Empire State manufacturing index fell to 14.7 in August from 25.6 in July.

US producer prices rose 0.1% in July.

US industrial production climbed 0.4% in July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3% gain.

The preliminary reading of Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 79.20 in August, versus a prior reading of 81.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 82.50.

Posted-In: Earnings News Eurozone Futures Commodities M&A Markets

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