Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Gains Over 350 Points; Castle Brands Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.36% to 26390.18 while the NASDAQ rose 1.59% to 7981.75. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.38% to 2,927.66.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrial shares climbed 1.9% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Roadrunner Transportation Systems, Inc. RRTS, up 16%, and Red Violet, Inc. RDVT, up 14%.

In trading on Thursday, consumer staples shares fell 0.1%.

Top Headline

Dollar General Corp. DG reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised FY19 outlook.

Dollar General reported second-quarter earnings of $1.74 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.57. The company reported quarterly sales of $6.98 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $6.89 billion.

Dollar General raised FY19 net sales growth from 7% to 8%; and diluted EPS guidance from $6.30-$6.50 to $6.36-$6.51. The company continues to expect share repurchases of approximately $1 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Castle Brands Inc. ROX shares shot up 90% to $1.2650 after the company agreed to be acquired by Penrod Ricard for $223 million.

Shares of Nutanix, Inc. NTNX got a boost, shooting up 26% to $24.66 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.

Guess?, Inc. GES shares were also up, gaining 27% to $19.08 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also issued FY20 EPS guidance above analyst estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Micro Focus International plc MFGP shares tumbled 33% to $12.69 after the company lowered its 2019 financial forecast.

Shares of Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. OLLI were down 28% to $56.24 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results.

Trans World Entertainment Corporation TWMC was down, falling 26% to $3.94 after the company reported Q2 EPS and sales results down from last year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.2% to $56.44, while gold traded down 1.2% to $1,530.90.

Silver traded down 1.4% Thursday to $18.205, while copper rose 0.8% to $2.574.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.04%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.54%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.94%. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.18% and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.51% while UK shares rose 0.98%.

Economics

Gross domestic product expanded at an annual pace of 2% in the second quarter, the government reported. Economists were projecting a 2% growth.

The trade deficit in goods shrank to $72.3 billion in July, versus $74.2 billion in the previous month. However, economists were expecting a gap of $74 billion. Advanced wholesale inventories rose 0.2%, while retail inventories gained 0.8% in July.

Initial jobless claims rose 4,000 to 215,000 in the latest week. Economists projected a reading of 215,000.

The pending home sales index fell 2.5% for July.

Domestic supplies of natural gas climbed 60 billion cubic feet for the week ended August 23, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 57 billion cubic feet.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.