Stock Market News For August 26, 2016

Benchmarks finished in the red on Thursday as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of Fed Chief Janet Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. Moreover, losses in healthcare and consumer discretionary stocks also weighed on investor sentiment. Declines in St. Jude Medical and Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) dragged down the healthcare sector, while poor earnings results from some retailers pulled down the consumer discretionary sector. Meanwhile, comments from some Fed officials raised speculations of a rate hike in the near term which boosted the financial sector.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) decreased 0.2%, to close at 18,448.41. The S&P 500 fell more than 0.1% to close at 2,172.47. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 5,212.20 losing 0.1%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 1.3% to settle at 13.63. A total of around 5.48 billion shares were traded on Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 6.2 billion. Advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 53% stocks that advanced, 43% declined.

What Pulled the Benchmarks Down?

Shares of Mylan N.V. (MYL) fell 0.7% following continued political pressure over inflated prices of its epinephrine auto-injector, EpiPen (read more: Mylan Draws Flak for Over Pricing EpiPen, Stock Down ).

Also, St. Jude Medical Inc’s (STJ) shares slumped 5% after research firm, Muddy Waters said the company’s cardiac devices are susceptible to cyber-attacks. Losses in Mylan and St. Jude Medical led the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLV) to fall by 0.8%, its second consecutive sessions of decline, and become the biggest loser among the S&P 500.

Some of its holdings including, Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX) (ESRX), Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) Public Limited Company (MNK) and Endo International plc (ENDP) decreased 6%, 4.9% and 4.8%, respectively.

Moreover, shares of retailers like Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) (DLTR) and Dollar General ( DG) plunged 9.9% and 17.6%, respectively after posting disappointing earnings results. Following losses in Dollar Tree and Dollar General, the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) fell 0.2%.

Ahead of Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s speech at Kansas City Fed's annual Economic Symposium held at Jackson Hole, Kansas City Fed President Esther George said that after observing the job market, inflation and Fed’s forecast for the same, she considers “that it would be appropriate” to raise rates gradually.

Further, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said that levels of inflation and employment are improving and “GDP growth in the second half of the year will be strong." He added that following “very good, healthy financial conditions,” it would be appropriate to raise rates. Rising rate hike chances led the Financial Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLFS) to advance 0.2%.

In economic news, initial claims fell last week by 1,000 to 261,000, posting the third straight weekly drop. This was lower than the consensus estimate of 265,000. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that durable orders increased 4.4% in July to $228.9 billion, following a decline of 4.2% in June. It was also higher than the consensus estimate of 3.5% increase.

Stocks that Made Headlines

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Beats Q1 Earnings, Revenues Closely In-Line

Medtronic plc (MDT) reported financial results for first-quarter fiscal 2017. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in the reported quarter came in at $1.03, 2 cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate and up 1% year over year. ( Read More)

Tiffany Q2 Earnings Beat, Sales Miss; View Intact

After commencing fiscal 2016 on a soft note, Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF). (TIF) made a sharp comeback with better-than-expected bottom-line results in the second quarter, in spite of waning top line. ( Read More)

Stratasys Builds 3D Printing Partnership with Boeing (NYSE:BA) & Ford

Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) recently entered into a few strategic partnerships with the likes of The Boeing Co. (BA), Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co. (F) and Siemens. (Read More)

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Clears Antitrust Hurdle for SolarCity Purchase

Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) has secured antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its deal to acquire SolarCity Corporation (SCTY). ( Read More)

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ:PDCO) Q1 Earnings Meet Estimates

Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) reported first-quarter fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings of 51 cents per share from continuing operations, which were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. ( Read More)

GameStop (NYSE:GME) Tops Q2 Earnings, Sales Lag; Stock Down

GameStop Corp. (GME) continued to impress investors as it reported better-than-expected earnings for the third consecutive quarter in second-quarter fiscal 2016. ( Read More)

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) Q2 Loss Lower than Expected, Guides Well

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) reported second-quarter fiscal 2017 adjusted of 10 cents a share, which compared favorably with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 30 cents. ( Read More)

Tech Data Reports Lower-than-Expected Q2 Earnings

Tech Data Corp. (TECD) reported dismal second-quarter fiscal 2017 results. Both non-GAAP earnings of $1.42 per share and revenues of $6.354 billion missed the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.44 and $6.613 billion. ( Read More)