Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; General Mills Sales Miss Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.13 percent to 17,725.54 while the NASDAQ gained 0.03 percent to 5,072.81. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.33 percent to 2,066.21. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Thursday, technology shares surged by 0.30 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. GILT, 3D Systems Corporation DDD, and Sohu.com Inc SOHU. In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares slipped by 0.89 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Seabridge Gold, Inc. (USA) SA, down 6 percent, and Gold Fields Limited (ADR) GFI, down 7 percent. Top Headline General Mills, Inc. GIS reported weak results for its fiscal second quarter and lowered its sales forecast for the full year. The company reported quarterly net income of $529.5 million, or $0.87 per share. Excluding items, General Mills earned $0.82 per share. Its total sales slipped 6 percent to $4.42 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.83 per share on revenue of $4.61 billion. Equities Trading UP Pandora Media Inc P shares shot up 21 percent to $16.22 following Wednesday's CRB ruling. Shares of MYOS Corp MYOS got a boost, shooting up 88 percent to $3.21 after the company reported a strategic investment by RENS Technology Inc. Avon Products, Inc. AVP shares were also up, gaining 8 percent to $4.40 after the company reported a $605 million strategic partnership with Cerberus. Equities Trading DOWN Teekay Corporation TK shares tumbled 50 percent to $8.82 after the company announced plan to cut quarterly dividend to $0.055 per share, from $0.55 per share. Shares of Pier 1 Imports Inc PIR were down 22 percent to $4.62 after the company reported downbeat revenue for its third quarter and lowered its earnings forecast for the year. However, the company's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' estimates. Teekay LNG Partners L.P. TGP was down, falling 46 percent to $9.87 after the company announced plan to lower quarterly cash distributions to $0.14 per common unit, from $0.70 per common unit. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 0.17 percent to $35.46, while gold traded down 1.83 percent to $1,057.10. Silver traded down 1.99 percent Thursday to $13.97, while copper fell 1.13 percent to $2.05. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.87 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 2.62 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index jumped 2.20 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 3.13 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 2.20 percent, while U.K. shares rose 1.20 percent. Economics US initial claims slipped by 11,000 to 271,000 in the week ending December 12. However, economists were projecting claims to reach 275,000 in the week. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index declined to negative 5.9 in December, versus economists' expectations for a reading of 1.5. The U.S. current-account deficit increased 11.7 percent to $124.1 billion in the third quarter, compared to a revised $111.1 billion in the second quarter. The Leading Economic Index rose 0.40 percent in November, versus economists' expectations for a 0.10 percent growth.