Mid-Day Market Update: U.S. Stocks Turn Lower; xG Technology Shares Rise After Q1 Results

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.17 percent to 20,946.51 while the NASDAQ declined 0.11 percent to 6,142.76. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21 percent to 2,397.29.

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, Hudson Technologies, Inc. HDSN, and Lifeway Foods, Inc. LWAY.

In trading on Tuesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.45 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included VOXX International Corp VOXX, down 14 percent, and Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS, down 11 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 28 percent to $1.85. 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 21 percent to $40.06 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Nature's Sunshine Prod. NATR shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $11.20 as the company disclosed that it has received its direct selling license in China.

Equities Trading DOWN

Mirna Therapeutics Inc MIRN shares dropped 23 percent to $1.57. Synlogic and Mirna Therapeutics agreed to merge in an all-stock deal.

Shares of Bovie Medical Corporation BVX were down 17 percent to $2.21. Bovie Medical reported a Q1 loss of $0.06 per share on sales of $8.4 million.

EnteroMedics Inc ETRM was down, falling around 25 percent to $4.55 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 up 0.06 percent to $48.88 while gold traded up 0.42 percent to $1,235.20.

Silver traded up 0.76 percent Tuesday to $16.73, while copper rose 0.30 percent to $2.5465.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.13 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.05 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.29 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.07 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.25 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.84 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.