Mid-Day Market Update: CapLease Gains On Acquisition News, Exelon Tumbles

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.13 percent to 15,476.02, while the NASDAQ rose 1.30 percent to 3,504.18. The S&P was also up, rising 1.07 percent to 1,667.27.

Tiffany & Co

reported a rise in its first-quarter profit. Tiffany's quarterly profit surged to $83.58 million, or $0.65 per share, versus $81.53 million, or $0.64 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.70 per share. Its revenue increased to $895.48 million from $819.17 million. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.53 per share on revenue of $855 million. Tiffany maintained its full-year earnings forecast of $3.43 to $3.53 per share.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International

shot up, gaining 7.64 percent to $90.93, after the company announced its plans to buy Bausch + Lomb for $8.7 billion. MAKO Surgical

was also up 10.49 percent to $12.40, after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock from “market perform” to “outperform.” CapLease

got a boost, shooting up 20.14 percent to $8.53 after American Realty Capital Properties

announced its plans to acquire CapLease for $2.2 billion.

Exelon

was down, falling 7.24 percent to $32.14, after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from “buy” to “hold.” Dole Food Company

shares tumbled 6.19 percent to $10.38 after the company announced update of owned vessel fleet. FirstEnergy

was down 6.64 percent to $39.78 after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock from “outperform” to “neutral.”

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.42 percent to $95.59, while gold dropped 0.13 percent to $1,390.00. Silver traded down 0.55 percent Tuesday to $22.39, while copper rose 0.33 percent to $3.32.

European shares were higher for the second consecutive day as U.K. markets reopened Tuesday following a bank holiday on Monday. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.84 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index gained 2.02 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.29 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.39 percent while U.K. shares surged 1.81 percent.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index surged 1.4% in March. The consumer confidence index surged to 76.2 in May, versus a revised reading of 69.0 in April, according to the Conference Board. However, economists were expecting the index to increase to 72.3 in May. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index rose to -2.00 in May, versus a prior reading of -6.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of -4.00 in May. The Dallas Fed general business activity index rose to -10.5 in May, versus a reading of -15.6 in April. The Treasury is set to auction 2-year notes.