Mid-Day Market Update: Buckle Drops After December Sales Results; ChemoCentryx Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.53 percent to 25,055.02 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.14 percent to 7,075.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.42 percent to 2,724.32.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Thursday, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. HOS and Pioneer Energy Services Corp PES.

In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell 0.01 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Insys Therapeutics Inc INSY, down 15 percent, and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SNSS down 12 percent.

Top Headline

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Walgreens reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $30.74 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $1.26 per share on sales of $30.35 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Cellect Biotechnology Ltd APOP shares shot up 49 percent to $10.61 after the company disclosed breakthrough clinical results.

Shares of ChemoCentryx Inc CCXI got a boost, shooting up 35 percent to $8.34. ChemoCentryx disclosed that the EMA has accepted for review the registration dossier in support of conditional marketing authorization for avacopan in the treatment of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. The company also reports securing of up to $100 million in new capital commitments.

OneMain Holdings Inc OMF shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $33.13. Apollo Global and Varde Partners reported the purchase of significant position in OneMain Holdings from fund managed by affiliate of Fortress Investment Group.

Equities Trading DOWN

L Brands Inc LB shares dropped 13 percent to $50.72. L Brands reported a 3 percent rise in its December sales and narrowed its Q4 earnings outlook.

Shares of Buckle Inc BKE were down 13 percent to $21.25. Buckle posted a 4.1 percent drop in comparable store net sales, for stores open at least one year, for the 5-week period ended December 30, 2017.

Cato Corp CATO was down, falling around 13 percent to $13.27. Cato reported a 9 percent drop in sales for the five weeks ended December 30, 2017. Same-store sales fell 9 percent for the month. Cato expects FY17 earnings of $0.50 to $0.65 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.73 percent to $62.08 while gold traded up 0.09 percent to $1,319.70.

Silver traded down 0.16 percent Thursday to $17.24, while copper rose 0.09 percent to $3.2605.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.89 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.96 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 2.77 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 1.46 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.55 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.32 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 250,000 jobs in December, according to payroll processor ADP. However, economists expected a gain of 188,000 jobs.

Initial jobless claims climbed 3,000 to 250,000 in the latest week. However, economists projected claims to total 240,000.

The Markit services PMI rose to 53.70 for October, versus prior reading of 52.40. However, economists projected a reading of 52.40.

Domestic supplies of natural gas dropped 206 billion cubic feet for the week ended December 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts expected a decline of 221 billion..

Domestic crude supplies slipped 7.42 million barrels for the week ended December 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts projected a drop of 5.15 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles rose 4.8 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles gained 8.9 million barrels for the week.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard is set to speak in Philadelphia at 1:30 p.m. ET.

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