Mid-Day Market Update: Electronic Arts Rises On Upbeat Results; Fossil Shares Dip

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.59 percent to 17,821.82 while the NASDAQ declined 0.29 percent to 4,795.96. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.37 percent to 2,076.73. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Wednesday, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included PrimeEnergy Corporation PNRG, Encana Corporation (USA) ECA, and Denbury Resources Inc. DNR. In trading on Wednesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Fossil Group Inc FOSL, down 28 percent, and Staples, Inc. SPLS, down 17 percent. Top Headline Macy's, Inc. M reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but missed analysts' sales estimates. The company also lowered its forecast for the full year. Macy's reported adjusted earnings of $0.40 per share, beating analysts' expectations by $0.04 per share. The company's sales slipped to $5.771 billion, compared with sales of $6.232 billion in the same period of the preceding year. Analysts expected sales of $5.93 billion. Its comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis witnessed a fall of 5.6 percent in the first quarter. On an owned basis, its comparable sales fell 6.1 percent. Going forward, Macy's reduced its earnings guidance for the full year 2016 to $3.15 to $3.40 a share from $3.80 to $3.90 a share projected earlier for the same period. Analysts' expect the company to report earnings of $3.80 a share. Equities Trading UP Natera Inc NTRA shares shot up 19 percent to $11.55 as the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results. Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. EA got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $73.73 reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday. Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $17.69 as the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its full-year revenue forecast. Equities Trading DOWN Office Depot Inc ODP shares dropped 39 percent to $3.74 following announcement of termination of merger agreement with Staples. Shares of Fossil Group Inc FOSL were down 28 percent to $28.95 as the company reported downbeat results for its first quarter and issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter. Staples, Inc. SPLS was down, falling around 17 percent to $8.59 following announcement of termination of merger agreement with Office Depot. Staples said in its press release the decision to terminate the proposed merger follows the recent ruling of a U.S. District Court of Columbia which granted the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to block its acquisition of Office Depot. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 2.78 percent to $45.90 while gold traded up 0.79 percent to $1,274.80. Silver traded up 1.71 percent Wednesday to $17.39, while copper rose 0.72 percent to $2.11. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 slipped 0.58 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 1.47 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.52 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.79 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.68 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.05 percent. Economics The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 0.40 percent for the week ended May 6, 2016.