Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Falls 50 Points; Myriad Genetics Shares Decline Following Downbeat Results

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.29 percent to 18,478.68 while the NASDAQ declined 0.51 percent to 5,199.06. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.40 percent to 2,173.05.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares slipped by 0.76 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included SunPower Corporation SPWR, down 29 percent, and Tidewater Inc. TDW, down 26 percent.

Top Headline

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd KORS reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter. However, the company offered a soft outlook for the second quarter and fiscal year 2017.

The global apparel retailer's net income was $147.1 million, or $0.83 a share, in the first quarter. On an adjusted basis, its net income would have been $156.0 million, or $0.88 a share. This was way ahead of the Street analysts' estimate of $0.74 a share.

Michael Kors' total revenue rose modestly by 0.2 percent from $986.0 million to $987.9 million surprising the Street, which was predicting a year-over-year drop of 3.3 percent. On a constant currency basis, revenue was flat.

Moving ahead, the retailer expects EPS to be $0.84-$0.88 on revenues of $1.07-$1.085 billion for the second quarter. Street analysts' have consensus EPS estimate of $1.03 on $1.11 billion revenue.

Equities Trading UP

DXP Enterprises Inc DXPE shares shot up 50 percent to $26.11 following Q2 results. DXP Enterprises reported Q2 earnings of $0.34 per share on revenue of $256.2 million.

Shares of Senseonics Holdings Inc SENS got a boost, shooting up 30 percent to $3.90 following Q2 results. Senseonics reported a Q2 loss of $0.13 per share on revenue of $19,000.

Healthways, Inc. HWAY shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $21.52 as the company posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

SunPower Corporation SPWR shares dropped 29 percent to $10.44 after the company posted a loss for its second quarter and issued a weak revenue forecast. Management expected a workforce reduction of about 15 percent totaling about 1,200 employees in the future and restructuring charges totaling $30-$45 million.

Shares of Myriad Genetics, Inc. MYGN were down 33 percent to $19.61 after the company posted weaker-than-expected Q4 results and issued a downbeat guidance.

Tidewater Inc. TDW was down, falling around 26 percent to $3.47 as the company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.85 percent to $41.98 while gold traded up 0.49 percent to $1,353.30.

Silver traded up 1.94 percent Wednesday to $20.24, while copper rose 1.23 percent to $2.18.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.20 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.08 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.03 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.39 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.36 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.22 percent.

Economics

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 7.1 percent for the week ended August 5, 2016.

Job openings increased to 5.62 million openings in June, compared to 5.51 million in May according to Labor’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. However, economists were projecting job openings of 5.57 million.

U.S. crude supplies increased 1.05 million barrels in the week ended August 5, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a drop of 1.02 million barrels. Gasoline supplies slipped 2.81 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles dropped 1.96 million barrels last week.

The U.S. government reported a budget deficit of $113 billion in July, versus a deficit of $149 billion for the year-ago period, according to the Treasury Department. However, analysts were projecting a $113 billion deficit for July.