Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Mixed, Hilton IPO a Success

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.45 percent to 15,771.37 while the NASDAQ gained 0.15 percent to 4,009.74. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.13 percent to 1,779.97.

Top Headline
Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) reported a rise in its third-quarter profit and cut its forecast.

Lululemon's quarterly profit surged to $66.1 million, or $0.45 per share, from a year-ago profit of $57.3 million, or $0.39 per share. Its net revenue gained 20% to $379.9 million. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.41 per share on revenue of $374.9 million. Its same-store sales increased 5% in the quarter.

Lululemon projects flat same-store sales for its fiscal fourth quarter. It also expects Q4 earnings of $0.78 to $0.80 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $0.84 per share. Lululemon also cut its full-year earnings forecast to $1.94 to $1.96 per share on revenue of of $1.605 billion to $1.610 billion.

Equities Trading UP
UNS Energy (NYSE: UNS) shot up 27.75 percent to $58.56 after the company agreed to be acquired by Fortis Utility Group for $60.25 per share in cash.

Shares of Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) were also up, gaining 9.25 percent to $21.86 after the company posted a successful IPO, with over 60 million shares exchanging hands toward the end of trading.

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) was also up, gaining 5.10 percent to $51.90. Facebook will join the S&P 500 Index at the end of next week.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) were down 11.16 percent to $60.72 after the company issued a weak guidance.

Taminco (NYSE: TAM) shares tumbled 7.53 percent to $19.30 after the company priced secondary offering of 10 million shares of common stock at $20 per share.

SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE) was also down, falling 11.18 percent to $11.36 after it lowered its fourth quarter and fiscal year guidance before the open Thursday.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.04 percent to $97.48, while gold traded down 2.41 percent to $1,226.20.

Silver traded down 3.78 percent Thursday to $19.53, while copper rose 0.80 percent to $3.29.

Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 0.93 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.94 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.66 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.43 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.96 percent.

Economics
U.S. jobless claims increased 68,000 to 368,000 in the week that ended December 7. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 335,000 in the week.

U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% in November, versus economists' expectations for a 0.6% gain.

U.S. import price index dropped 0.6% in November, versus economists' expectations for a 0.7% decline.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 30.9 in the week ended December 8, versus minus 31.3.

U.S. business inventories rose 0.70% in October, versus a prior reading of a 0.60% gain. However, economists were expecting a 0.30% rise.

Supplies of natural gas dropped 81 billion cubic feet for the week ended December 6, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a fall of 79 billion cubic feet to 83 billion cubic feet.

Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

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

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