Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Johnson & Johnson Beats Q4 Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.15 percent to 26,174.62 while the NASDAQ gained 0.29 percent to 7,429.81. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.02 percent to 2,832.31.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the utilities sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Chesapeake Utilities Corporation CPK and American States Water Co AWR.

In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares fell 1.15 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Vale SA (ADR) VALE, down 5 percent, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Johnson & Johnson JNJ reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Johnson & Johnson posted adjusted earnings of $1.74 per share in the quarter on revenue of $20.20 billion which exceeded Wall Street's expectations for $1.72 per share and $20.07 billion.

Equities Trading UP

ACM Research Inc ACMR shares shot up 15 percent to $5.47 after the company reported $38.1 million of wafer cleaning equipment orders over the past 8 weeks.

Shares of ResMed Inc. RMD got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $99.81 following a big second quarter earnings beat. Needham upgraded ResMed from Underperform to Hold.

Netflix, Inc. NFLX shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $250.69 after reporting better-than-expected sales for its fourth quarter. The company also issued strong first quarter earnings and sales guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Insmed Incorporated INSM shares dropped 8 percent to $28.59 after the company reported a proposed offering of convertible senior notes.

Shares of Pretium Resources Inc PVG were down 20 percent to $8.63 after the company issued an operations update of ramp-up at the high-grade gold Brucejack Mine for fourth quarter 2017 and the first six months. The company also issued guidance for the first six months of 2018.

New Oriental Education & Tech Grp (ADR) EDU was down, falling around 5 percent to $93.77 after reporting Q2 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.76 percent to $64.05 while gold traded up 0.30 percent to $1,335.90.

Silver traded up 0.01 percent Tuesday to $16.99, while copper fell 1.69 percent to $3.1445.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.22 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.23 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.01 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.74 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.07 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.37 percent.

Economics

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index dropped to 14.00 for January, versus prior reading of 20.00. Economists projected a reading of 19.00.

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

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Chicago, Illinois at 6:30 p.m. ET.