Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Turns Positive; Korn/Ferry Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.23 percent to 17,680.03 while the NASDAQ declined 0.24 percent to 4,823.12. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04 percent to 2,070.57. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Thursday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 0.60 percent. In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares tumbled by 1.02 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included LSB Industries, Inc. LXU, down 7 percent, and Stillwater Mining Company SWC, down 5 percent. Top Headline The Kroger Co KR reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Thursday. Kroger reported quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share, on revenue of $34.6 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.69 per share on revenue of $34.88 billion. The company expects FY16 earnings of $2.19 to $2.28 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $2.25 per share. Equities Trading UP Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. NUS shares shot up 11 percent to $45.05. Nu Skin reported a $210 million strategic investment from Ping An ZQ China Growth Opportunity Limited. Shares of QLogic Corporation QLGC got a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $14.83 after the company agreed to be acquired by Cavium Inc CAVM for $1.36 billion. EXACT Sciences Corporation EXAS shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $11.17. Craig-Hallum upgraded Exact Sciences from Hold to Buy. Equities Trading DOWN Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. TNXP shares dropped 20 percent to $1.97. Tonix Pharma priced public offering of 5 million shares at $2 per share. Shares of Korn/Ferry International KFY were down 18 percent to $22.61. Korn/Ferry posted upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued a weak earnings forecast. Baird downgraded Korn/Ferry from Outperform to Neutral. TETRA Technologies, Inc. TTI was down, falling around 14 percent to $5.51. TETRA Technologies priced an offering of 10 million shares at $5.50 per share. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 3.02 percent to $46.56 while gold traded up 0.23 percent to $1,291.20. Silver traded up 0.21 percent Thursday to $17.54, while copper fell 1.94 percent to $2.05. Eurozone European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.72 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.62 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.98 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.59 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.45 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.27 percent. Economics The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent for May, versus economists' expectations for a 0.3 percent growth. U.S. initial jobless claims increased 13,000 to 277,000 in the latest week. However, economists were projecting claims to reach 270,000 in the week. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose to 4.70 in June, versus a prior reading of -1.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 1.10. U.S. current account deficit widened to $124.7 billion in the first quarter, versus a downwardly revised $113.4 billion in the fourth quarter. The NAHB housing market index rose to a reading of 60 in June. However, economists expected a reading of 59 for the month. Supplies of natural gas increased 69 billion cubic feet for the week ended June 10, the U.S. Energy Information Administration. However, analysts were expecting a gain of 64 billion cubic feet.