Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Up 2%; G&K Services Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.31 percent to 18,578.25 while the NASDAQ declined 0.46 percent to 5,237.63. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.38 percent to 2,181.74.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday afternoon, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Clean Energy Fuels Corp CLNE and Resolute Energy Corp REN.

In trading on Tuesday, telecommunications services shares slipped by 0.80 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Cincinnati Bell Inc. CBB, down 4 percent, and Neustar Inc NSR, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS posted upbeat Q2 results and raised its FY16 earnings outlook.

Dicks Sporting Goods reported EPS of $0.82 and revenues of $2 billion. Analyst consensus had an EPS estimate of $0.69 and revenues of $1.88 billion. Additionally, same-store sales increased 2.8 percent during Q2.

Dicks Sporting Goods saw FY16 EPS at $2.90-$3.05 vs. estimates of $2.84 and Q3 EPS of $0.39-$0.42 vs. estimates of $0.38. Company management expected FY16 comparable same store sales to be up 2-3 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Sito Mobile Ltd SITO shares shot up 27 percent to $5.18 following Q2 results. Sito Mobile posted quarterly net income of $0.7 million on revenue of $9.9 million.

Shares of Tofutti Brands Inc. TOF got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $2.91. Tofutti reported Q2 earnings of $0.04 per share on revenue of $3.554 million.

G&K Services Inc GK shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $96.93. Cintas Corporation CTAS announced plans to acquire G&K Services for $97.50 per share in cash. G&K Services also posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Hain Celestial Group Inc HAIN shares dropped 26 percent to $39.52 after the company announced a delay of its earnings release. After Monday's market close, the organic food manufacturer said the delay is due to accounting of concessions granted to certain U.S. distributors. The company said it "will not be in a position to release financial results until the completion of the independent review of the Audit Committee and of the audit process relating to FY16."

Shares of Lime Energy Co. LIME were down 13 percent to $1.84. Lime Energy reported a Q2 loss of $0.39 per share on revenue of $21 million.

Verso Corporation VRS was down, falling around 19 percent to $8.50. Verso posted a Q2 net loss of $33 million on revenue of $630 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.03 percent to $47.34 while gold traded up 0.47 percent to $1,353.80.

Silver traded down 0.01 percent Tuesday to $19.85, while copper rose 0.95 percent to $2.18.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.79 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 1.13 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.21 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.58 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.83 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.68 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.80 percent year-over-year in July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.90 percent growth.

Housing starts rose 2.1 percent to an annual rate of 1.21 million in July. However, economists were expecting a 1.18 million rate.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.3 percent during the first two weeks of August versus July.

U.S. industrial production rose 0.7 percent in July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.