Courtesy of Benzinga.
Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.28 percent to 17,125.93 while the NASDAQ surged 0.42 percent to 4,591.80. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.32 percent to 2,007.13.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose 0.65 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included PVH (NYSE: PVH), down 10.9 percent, and Mattress Firm Holding (NASDAQ: MFRM), off 11.5 percent.
In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell by 0.48 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Matrix Service Company (NASDAQ: MTRX), BP plc (NYSE: BP), andMagnum Hunter Resources (NYSE: MHR).
Top Headline
VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY) reported upbeat fiscal third-quarter results.
The San Jose, California-based company posted a quarterly loss of $29 million, or $0.26 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $1.9 million, or $0.02 per share. Excluding non-recurring items, the company earned $0.40 per share.
Its sales surged 14% to $476 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.35 per share on revenue of $459.93 million.
Equities Trading UP
PVH (NYSE: PVH) shares shot up 9.36 percent to $128.09 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The company expected earnings growth of more than 15% for the second half of 2014.
Shares of TIBCO Software (NASDAQ: TIBX) got a boost, shooting up 4.80 percent to $22.05 on news the company hired an investment bank to explore strategic options.
Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) shares were also up, gaining 1.90 percent to $4.28 after the company reported upbeat earnings for its fiscal third quarter.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Matrix Service Company (NASDAQ: MTRX) were down 23.22 percent to $22.37 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) shares tumbled 8.41 percent to $18.74 after the company issued a weak fiscal fourth-quarter forecast. However, the company reported upbeat third-quarter results.
Memorial Production Partners LP (NASDAQ: MEMP) was down, falling 3.45 percent to $22.36 after the company priced public offering of 13 million shares of common units at $22.29 per unit.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.21 percent to $94.38, while gold traded up 0.01 percent to $1,270.40.
Silver traded down 0.05 percent Thursday to $19.18, while copper rose 0.67 percent to $3.15.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 1.97 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 2.82 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.05 percent and the French CAC 40 surged 1.65 percent while UK shares climbed 0.10 percent.
Economics
Announced layoffs fell around 40,000 in August, versus around 47,000 layoffs in July.
Private-sector employment increased by 204,000 in August, versus 212,000 in July, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc. However, economists were expecting an addition of 220,000 jobs.
US jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 302,000 in the week ended August 30. Economists were estimating claims to reach 300,000 in the week.
US nonfarm productivity rose 2.3% in the second quarter, while unit-labor costs dropped 0.1%.
The Markit services PMI rose to 59.50 in August, versus a prior reading of 58.50. However, economists were expecting a reading of 58.50.
The ISM non-manufacturing PMI rose to 59.60 in August, versus a prior reading of 58.70. However, economists were expecting a reading of 57.50.
US crude-oil inventories fell 900,000 barrels in the week ended August 29, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting crude stockpiles to fall by 2 million barrels.
US natural gas supplies rose 79 billion cubic feet on the week ended August 29, according to the Energy Information Administration. However, analysts were expecting a rise of 72 bcf to 76 bcf.
Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Commodities M&A Econ #s
