Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Paychex Profit Beats Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.27 percent to 22,619.26 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.05 percent to 6,519.72. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.05 percent to 2,530.28.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the telecommunications services shares surged 0.48 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (ADR) IIJI, up 4 percent, and Internet Gold Golden Lines Ltd IGLD, up 5 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.42 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Entergy Corporation ETR, down 2 percent, and Exelon Corporation EXC down 1.5 percent.

Top Headline

Paychex, Inc. PAYX reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday.

Paychex reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.62 per share on sales of $816.8 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.60 per share on sales of $816.30 million.

Equities Trading UP

Endocyte, Inc. ECYT shares shot up 52 percent to $5.53 following 157 percent rally on Monday amid news of global license for PSMA-617. Wedbush upgraded Endocyte from Neutral to Outperform.

Shares of Cesca Therapeutics Inc KOOL got a boost, shooting up 47 percent to $5.29 after the company reported an allowance for US Patent application covering a novel method of cell separation.

Vical Incorporated VICL shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $3.25 after the company reported VL-2397 approval by the FDA for Limited Use Indication.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. TTS shares dropped 34 percent to $8.65 after the company issued weak forecast for the third quarter. The company expects Q3 sales to rise 7 percent to $84 million. Comparable store sales are projected to increase 1 percent in the quarter.

Shares of RedHill Biopharma Ltd - ADR RDHL were down 12 percent to $9.49 after the company issued top-line results from Phase II study of BEKINDA in patients with IBS-D.

Aegion Corp AEGN was down, falling around 12 percent to $20.84 after the company issued an update on strategic actions. Craig-Hallum downgraded Aegion from Buy to Hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.04 percent to $50.56 while gold traded up 0.02 percent to $1,276.10.

Silver traded up 0.10 percent Tuesday to $16.67, while copper rose 0.34 percent to $2.9655.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.06 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.44 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.18 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.58 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.36 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.23 percent.

Economics

Data on motor vehicle sales for September will be released today.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 4.1 percent year-over-year during September.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.