Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Macy's Posts Rise In Profit

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Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.36 percent to 16,655.95 while the NASDAQ declined 0.21 percent to 4,121.47. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.27 percent to 1,892.38.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Basic Materials shares gained around 0.24 percent in trading on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Harmony Gold Mining Company (NYSE: HMY), up 4.1 percent, and Thompson Creek Metals Company (NYSE: TC), up 3.8 percent. In trading on Wednesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.36 percent.

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Top decliners in the sector included Fossil Group (NASDAQ: FOSL), down 8.2 percent, and Kandi Technolgies Group (NASDAQ: KNDI), off 4.4 percent.

Top Headline
Macy's (NYSE: M) reported a rise in its first-quarter earnings. Macy's reaffirmed its outlook for the full year. It also increased its share-buyback plan by $1.5 billion and lifted its dividend by 25% to 31.25 cents per share. Macy's posted a quarterly profit of $224 million, or $0.60 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $217 million, or $0.55 per share. Its revenue slipped 1.7% to $6.28 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.59 per share on revenue of $6.46 billion. Its revenue at stores open at least a year dropped 0.8%.

Equities Trading UP
SunOpta (NASDAQ: STKL) shares shot up 12.89 percent to $12.70 after the company reported upbeat Q1 earnings.

Shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS) got a boost, shooting up 10.16 percent to $27.64 after the company reported positive Phase 2 data on ISIS-GCGR Rx in HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The Rubicon Project (NYSE: RUBI) shares were also up, gaining 27.09 percent to $14.45 after the company reported upbeat Q1 results and issued a strong outlook.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Fossil Group (NASDAQ: FOSL) were 8.04 percent to $102.49 after the company issued a downbeat guidance. The company projected Q2 earnings of $0.90 to $0.97 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $1.16 per share.

USA Compression Partners LP (NYSE: USAC) shares tumbled 6.80 percent to $24.95 after the company priced 6.6 million units at $25.59 per unit.

Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) was down, falling 3.32 percent to $19.95 after the company issued a weak outlook. For the first quarter, the company expected an adjusted loss of $0.35 to $0.25 per share on revenue of $120 million to $125 million. However, analysts expected a loss of $0.12 per share on revenue of $209.6 million.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.35 percent to $102.06, while gold traded up 0.95 percent to $1,307.10.

Silver traded up 1.86 percent Wednesday to $19.91, while copper rose 0.94 percent to $3.17.

Eurozone
European shares were lower today.

The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.25 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.05 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.65 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.10 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 0.21 percent while UK shares fell 0.18 percent.

Economics
The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 3.60% in the week ended May 9.

U.S. wholesale prices increased 0.6% in April, versus a revised 0.5% rise in March. However, economists were expecting a 0.2% gain in the PPI.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Forex Global Econ #s Economics Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

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