Stocks Lower as Jobless Claims Rise

U.S. Market
Stocks were mostly lower this morning.

Initial unemployment claims rose a larger-than-expected 11,000 to 315,000 last week. Data during holiday weeks tends to be more volatile than usual. The four-week moving average rose by 750 to 304,000.

At midday the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq were down 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% respectively.

Stocks on the Move
Shares of Lululemon (LULU) soared over 16% after the firm reported better-than-expected earnings. The firm said its second-quarter earnings were 33 cents a share compared to 39 cents a share in the year-ago quarter and expectations of 29 cents. The firm also raised its full-year earnings outlook.

Grocery store chain Kroger (KR) also reported better-than-expected second-quarter results today. Profits in the quarter rose to 70 cents a share from 60 cents a share in the second quarter of 2013. Management boosted its full-year earnings and same-store sales guidance. Shares were down 1% at midday.

Foreign Markets
European markets were lower today. In late trading, the FTSE 100, Paris CAC and Germany’s DAX were down 0.4%, 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.

Asian shares were mixed. The Shanghai Composite was down 0.3%, the Hang Seng lost 0.2% while the Nikkei 225 was up 0.8%.