Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; Kohl's Misses Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.30 percent to 17,764.50 while the NASDAQ declined 0.07 percent to 4,757.29. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16 percent to 2,067.76. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Thursday, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust CHKR, Legacy Reserves LP LGCY, and Legacy Reserves LP PER. In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell by 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included STAAR Surgical Company STAA, down 20 percent, and Cytori Therapeutics Inc CYTX, down 7 percent. Top Headline Kohl's Corporation KSS reported downbeat results for its first quarter on Thursday. Kohl's earnings dropped 86 percent to $0.17 a share from $0.63 a share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, its net income would have dropped 55% to $58 million from $127 million while earnings would have fallen 50 percent to $0.31 a share from $0.63 a share in the corresponding period of the last year. The company's sales fell 3.7 percent to $3.97 billion from $4.12 billion in the previous year quarter. Both earnings and revenue fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.37 a share and $4.13 billion. Its comparable store sales fell 3.9 percent whereas it recorded a gain of 1.4 percent in the preceding year period. Equities Trading UP LSB Industries, Inc. LXU shares shot up 44 percent to $15.17 as the company agreed to sell its Climate Control business to NIBE Industrier for $364 million in cash. Shares of Cnova NV CNV got a boost, shooting up 44 percent to $4.90 as Casino SA announced plans to launch tender offer to acquire Cnova for $5.50 per share. Infoblox Inc BLOX shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $18.27. Infoblox is said to have received an offer from Thoma Bravo to take the company private, according to sources as reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday. The sources said Infoblox is considering hiring advisers to explore strategic options. Equities Trading DOWN CPI Card Group Inc PMTS shares dropped 45 percent to $4.25 as the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter and lowered its FY16 forecast. Shares of STAAR Surgical Company STAA were down 21 percent to $5.87 as the company reported downbeat results for its first quarter. Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) HIMX was down, falling around 15 percent to $9.12. Himax Technologies reported Q1 earnings of $0.078 per share on revenue of $180.3 million. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 1.21 percent to $46.79 while gold traded down 0.45 percent to $1,269.70. Silver traded down 0.05 percent Thursday to $17.31, while copper rose 0.62 percent to $2.12. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.71 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.22 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.89 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.47 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.94 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.44 percent. Economics U.S. jobless claims surged 20,000 to 294,000 in the latest week. Economists were expecting claims to drop to 270,000 in the week. U.S. import prices increased 0.3 percent in April, while export prices gained 0.5 percent for the month.