Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher, McDonald's May Comparable Sales Rise 2.6%

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.03 percent to 15,253.02 while the NASDAQ gained 0.03 percent to 3,470.32. The S&P also rose, surging 0.01 percent to 1,643.54.

McDonald's

reported a 2.6% rise in its global comparable sales in May. McDonald's systemwide sales jumped 3.6% in May; while US sales climbed 2.4%. Its global comparable sales declined 1.0% during the first quarter.

IHS

shot up 2.44 percent to $109.55 after the company agreed to buy R.L. Polk & Co for $1.4 billion. Shares of Monsanto Company

got a boost, shooting up 4.63 percent to $106.36 after Macquarie upgraded the stock from “neutral” to “outperform.” First Bancorp

was also up, gaining 1.58 percent to $6.44 after Sterne Agee upgraded the stock from “neutral” to “buy.”

Rovi

was down, falling 7.66 percent to $24.48 after the company reported it is working with Broadcom

to enable HEVC playback across multiple screens. Shares of Titan International

were down 7.68 percent to $19.12 after William Blair downgraded the stock to “market perform.” Morgan Stanley

shares tumbled 1.31 percent to $26.65 after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock from “outperform” to “perform.”

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.91 percent to $95.62, while gold traded down 2.47 percent to $1,380.80. Silver traded down 4.19 percent Monday to $21.76, while copper fell 2.82 percent to $3.23.

European shares were mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.25 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.65 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.84 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.29 percent while U.K. shares gained 1.05 percent.

The Investor Movement Index for May will be released at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Treasury will hold its weekly 3- and 6-month bill auctions.