Mid-Day Market Update: Babcock & Wilcox Drops After Q2 Results; Hudson Technologies Shares Surge

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.48 percent to 21,943.13 while the NASDAQ declined 1.15 percent to 6,279.31. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.87 percent to 2,452.54.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, the telecommunications services fell by just 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PLDT Inc (ADR) PHI, up 4 percent, and China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) CHL, up 2 percent.

In trading on Thursday, technology shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.25 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Quantum Corp QTM, down 27 percent, and NetEase Inc (ADR) NTES, down 10 percent.

Top Headline

Macy's Inc DIS reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Macy's posted adjusted earnings of $0.48 per share on revenue of $5.55 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.46 per share on revenue of $5.52 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Hudson Technologies, Inc. HDSN shares shot up 21 percent to $9.61 after the company posted upbeat Q2 results. Air Liquide's Airgas announced a deal with Hudson Technologies for sale of Airgas-Refrigerants unit.

Shares of Perrigo Company plc PRGO got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $78.40 as the company reported upbeat Q2 earnings.

CYANOTECH CORP CYAN shares were also up, gaining 23 percent to $4.28. Cyanotech reported Q1 earnings of $0.09 per share on revenue of $8.809 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc BW shares dropped 64 percent to $3.56. Babcock & Wilcox reported a Q2 loss of $151 million on sales of $349.8 million.

Shares of Forterra Inc FRTA were down 51 percent to $4.04. Forterra reported quarterly loss of $0.18 per share on revenue of $436.7 million.

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. CBI was down, falling around 32 percent to $11.16 after the company posted a surprise loss for its second quarter and reported its intent to sell technology unit.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.30 percent to $49.41 while gold traded up 0.94 percent to $1,291.30.

Silver traded up 1.35 percent Thursday to $17.09, while copper fell 0.43 percent to $2.9145.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.99 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.39 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.75 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dipped 1.08 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.70 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.45 percent.

Economics

U.S. jobless claims increased 3,000 to 244,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 240,000.

The producer price index declined 0.1 percent in July, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent growth.

Domestic supplies of natural gas gained 28 billion cubic feet for the week ended August 4, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting a growth of 38 billion cubic feet.

The Treasury will auction 30-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for July is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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