Mid-Day Market Update: US Stocks Mostly Higher; Forest Laboratories Shares Jump On Actavis Deal

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.05 percent to 16,162.86 while the NASDAQ gained 0.69 percent to 4,273.24. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.23 percent to 1,842.80.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Tuesday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Healthcare stocks surged 1% in today's trading. Leading the sector was strength from Forest Laboratories FRX and Chindex International CHDX on acquisition news.

In trading on Tuesday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by 0.07%.

Top decliners in the sector included Fresh Del Monte Produce FDP, off 8.8%, and Coca-Cola Company KO, down 3.5%. Shares of Fresh Del Monte tumbled after the company reported weak quarterly earnings.

Top Headline
Coca-Cola Co KO reported a drop in its fourth-quarter net profit. Coca-Cola's quarterly profit declined to $1.71 billion, or $0.38 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.87 billion, or $0.41 per share. Its adjusted -profit came in at $0.46 per share. Its revenue slipped to $11.04 billion versus $11.46 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.46 per share on revenue of $11.31 billion.

Equities Trading UP
Forest Laboratories FRX shot up 29.85 percent to $92.70 after Actavis ACT announced its plans to buy Forest Labs for $25 billion. Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded Forest Labs from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

Shares of BlackBerry BBRY got a boost, shooting up 5.40 percent to $9.47 on report of Loeb 10 million share stake. FBR Capital upgraded BlackBerry from Underperform to Market Perform.

Actavis plc ACT was also up, gaining 7.36 percent to $206.00 on deal for Forest Laboratories FRX.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Fresh Del Monte Produce FDP were down 8.72 percent to $24.42 after the company reported downbeat quarterly earnings.

The Coca-Cola Company KO shares tumbled 3.52 percent to $37.56 after the company reported a drop in its fourth-quarter net profit.

Waste Management WM was down, falling 4.71 percent to $41.62 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.14 percent to $101.49, while gold traded up 1.68 percent to $1,322.00.

Silver traded up 6.77 percent Tuesday to $21.78, while copper rose 1.14 percent to $3.29.

Eurozone
European shares were mixed today.

The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.73 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.05 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.08 percent and the French CAC 40 tumbled 0.10 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.91 percent.

Economics
The Empire State manufacturing index fell to 4.48 in February, versus a prior reading of 12.51. However, economists were expecting a reading of 8.50.

The NAHB housing market index declined to 46.00 in February, from a prior reading of 56.00. However, economists were projecting a reading of 56.00.