Mid-Afternoon Market Update: DXP Enterprises Gains On Strong Results; EnteroMedics Shares Plummet

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 20,980.89 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.17 percent to 6,160.35. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.13 percent to 2,399.29.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector was the top gainer in the US market on Tuesday. Top gainers in the sector included Nature's Sunshine Prod. NATR, Bridgford Foods Corporation BRID, and SunOpta, Inc. (USA) STKL.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.46 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Korea Electric Power Corporation (ADR) KEP, down 4 percent, and Pure Cycle Corporation PCYO, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Home Depot Inc HD reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised its guidance for the year.

Home Depot posted quarterly earnings of $1.67 per share on revenue of $23.88 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.61 per share on revenue of $23.72 billion.

Home Depot lifted its earnings outlook for the year to $7.15 per share, versus $7.13 per share.

Equities Trading UP

xG Technology Inc XGTI shares shot up 43 percent to $2.07. xG Technology posted Q1 earnings of $0.84 per share on revenue of $9.335 million.

Shares of DXP Enterprises Inc DXPE got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $40.27 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Nature's Sunshine Prod. NATR shares were also up, gaining 28 percent to $11.35 as the company disclosed that it has received its direct selling license in China.

Equities Trading DOWN

Mirna Therapeutics Inc MIRN shares dropped 28 percent to $1.46. Synlogic and Mirna Therapeutics agreed to merge in an all-stock deal.

Shares of Bovie Medical Corporation BVX were down 20 percent to $2.11. Bovie Medical reported a Q1 loss of $0.06 per share on sales of $8.4 million.

EnteroMedics Inc ETRM was down, falling around 26 percent to $4.50 after the company reported its earnings for the three-month period ending March 31, 2017, and an overview of its recent commercialization and corporate achievements. During the quarter, the company reported sales of $40,000 with gross profits totaling $11,000. Net loss for the quarter totaled $7.4 million while the company ended the period with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $18.7 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.25 percent to $48.73 while gold traded up 0.63 percent to $1,237.70.

Silver traded up 1.04 percent Tuesday to $16.775, while copper rose 0.45 percent to $2.5505.

Eurozone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.22 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.38 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.02 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.21 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.91 percent.

Economics

U.S. housing starts declined 2.6 percent to an annual pace of 1.17 million in April. However, economists were expecting a 1.26 million pace for the month. Building permits declined 2.5 percent to a 1.23 million pace for April.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 1.1 percent during the first two weeks of May versus April.

U.S. industrial production rose 1 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent growth.