Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Michaels Tops Q4 Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.02 percent to 17,322.16 while the NASDAQ declined 0.35 percent to 4,747.42. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.14 percent to 2,024.33. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Thursday, basic materials shares rose by 1.26 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Teck Resources Ltd (USA) TCK, BHP Billiton plc (ADR) BBL, and LSB Industries, Inc. LXU. In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares dipped by 0.82 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Horizon Pharma PLC HZNP, down 7 percent, and Zogenix, Inc. ZGNX, down 7 percent. Top Headline Michaels Companies Inc MIK reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter. Michaels Companies posted quarterly earnings of $183.7 million, or $0.87 per share, compared to $146.4 million, or $0.75 per share, in the year-ago period. Its sales rose 4.6 percent to $1.68 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.84 per share on revenue of $1.65 billion. . Equities Trading UP Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc VTAE shares shot up 99 percent to $8.19 on positive psoriasis data. The surge was driven by news about the company's experimental psoriasis drug. Top-line results from its Phase 2a proof-of-concept clinical trial of VTP-43742 in psoriatic patients showed a reduction in the skin condition of the treated patients. Shares of Rofin-Sinar Technologies RSTI got a boost, shooting up 35 percent to $31.00 as Coherent, Inc. COHR announced its plans to buy Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc in a deal valued at around $942 million. FedEx Corporation FDX shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $157.19 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fiscal third quarter on Wednesday. Equities Trading DOWN Bio Blast Pharma Ltd ORPN shares dropped 24 percent to $3.19 as the company reported the pricing of $6.7 million registered direct offering for $3.10 per share. Shares of Scorpio Bulkers Inc SALT were down 18 percent to $3.02 as the company priced 21 million share offering at $3 per share. Guess?, Inc. GES was down, falling around 14 percent to $18.34 after the company reported downbeat earnings for the fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 1.90 percent to $39.19, while gold traded up 3.03 percent to $1,267.10. Silver traded up 3.49 percent Thursday to $15.75, while copper rose 1.90 percent to $2.28. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 1.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.94 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index tumbled 1.48 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 1.67 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 1.29 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.36 percent. Economics U.S. jobless claims increased 7,000 to 265,000 in the second week of March. However, economists were estimating claims to reach 268,000 in the week. The U.S. current-account deficit declined 3.6 percent to $125.3 billion in the fourth quarter. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index climbed to 12.40 in March, versus a prior reading of -2.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of -1.70. The Consumer Board's leading economic index rose 0.10 percent for February, versus economists' expectations for a 0.20 percent growth.