U.S. stocks were in the green on Thursday, amid lessened trade war tensions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.25% to 26,361, the S&P 500 index rose 1.23% to 2,923 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.51% to 7,975.
Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF, Financial) fell more than 16% after announcing second-quarter results. The company posted a loss of 48 cents per share and revenue of $841.1million, reflecting a 0.2% decline from the comparable trimester of the previous year. The company beat earnings estimates by 4 cents but fell short of revenue estimates by $6.6 million.
"Trends improved throughout the second quarter, enabling us to deliver constant currency revenue growth and meet our previously-issued comp and gross profit rate outlook, while continuing to tightly manage expenses. Importantly, we have had a solid start to back-to-school in the U.S. and we look forward to building on that momentum in the back half through exciting product and cohesive marketing campaigns," CEO Fran Horowitz said.
In the quarter, gross profit was 59.3%, down 90 basis points from last year. Operating expenses were $537.8 million, and the operating margin decreased 470 basis points from last year to a loss of 4.7%.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2019, the company expects net sales to be flat or to increase 2%. It also projects a gross profit rate of 60.2%.
During the quarter ended June 30, Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio)Ă‚ boosted his holdings by 72% to 35,419 shares.
Gainers
• PVH Corp. (PVH, Financial) +7.1%
• National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV, Financial) +6.1%
• Mosaic Co. (MOS, Financial) +4.7%
• United Rentals Inc. (URI, Financial) +4.6%
• EOG Resources Inc. (EOG, Financial) +4.2%
Losers
• Best Buy Co Inc. (BBY, Financial) -8.8%
• Altria Group Inc. (MO, Financial) -1.7%
• Tapestry Inc. (TPR, Financial) -1.5%
• Newmont Goldcorp Corp. (NEM, Financial) -1.5%
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in the green. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.86%, France's CAC 40 gained 1.31%, Germany's Dax jumped 0.96% and Spain's Ibex 35 advanced 0.36%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.09%, India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.34% and China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.10%.
Disclosure:The author holdsno positions in any stocks mentioned.
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