Mid-Day Market Update: McCormick Rises On Upbeat Earnings; Carnival Shares Slip

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.24 percent to 16,314.87 while the NASDAQ declined 0.41 percent to 4,209.25. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.03 percent to 1,857.96.

In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.88 percent. Top gainers in the sector included LSB Industries

, with shares up 5 percent, and Gold Fields

, with shares up 4.2 percent. Cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped by 0.66 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Sky-mobi

was down more than 13.7 percent, while Aeropostale

tumbled around 5.95 percent.

Walgreen Co

reported a drop in its second-quarter profit and announced its plans to close 76 stores. Walgreen's quarterly net income fell to $754 million, or $0.78 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $756 million, or $0.79 per share. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.91 per share. Its sales climbed 5.1% to $19.61 billion, while same-store sales climbed 4.3%. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.93 per share on sales of $19.6 billion. Its gross profit margin declined 1.3 percentage points to 28.8% of sales.

Sonic

shares shot up 7.89 percent to $22.57 after the company reported

fiscal second-quarter earnings. Sonic posted its quarterly earnings of $0.07 per share on revenue of $109.7 million. However, analysts were projecting a profit of $0.06 per share on revenue of $110.3 million. Shares of McCormick & Company

got a boost, shooting up 5.91 percent to $71.50 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. Walgreen Co

was also up, gaining 2.95 percent to $66.21 after the company

in its second-quarter profit and announced its plans to close 76 stores.

Shares of Himax Technologies

were down 15.99 percent to $11.24 after falling 4.77% on Monday. Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform. G-III Apparel Group

shares tumbled 5.67 percent to $70.24 on Q4 results. G-III Apparel reported its Q4 earnings of $0.62 per share on revenue of $472.80 million. The company expected FY15 earnings of $3.95 to $4.10 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $4.30 per share. Carnival

was down, falling 5.02 percent to $37.99 after the company reported Q1 results. Carnival reported its Q1 earnings of $0.00 per share on revenue of $3.585 billion.

In commodity news,

to $99.93, while gold traded up 0.12 percent to $1,312.70. Silver traded down 0.23 percent Tuesday to $20.02, while copper rose 2.27 percent to $3.01.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.81 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.78 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX jumped 1.55 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 1.30 percent while U.K. shares surged 1.15 percent.

The ICSC-Goldman same-store sales index dropped 1.5% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week. The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.4% in the first three weeks of March versus February. US home prices fell 0.1% in January, according to S&P/Case-Shiller's composite index. US home prices climbed 0.8% in January after seasonal adjustments. Sales of new US homes dropped 3.3% to an annual rate of 440,000 in February. However, economists were expecting sales to reach 445,000 last month. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index declined to -7.00 in March, versus a prior reading of -6.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 4.00. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 82.30 in March, versus economists' expectations for a reading of 78.50. US home prices climbed 0.5% in January, and rose 7.4% y/y.