Mid-Day Market Update: Allergan Surges On Buyout Offer; Lexmark Shares Slip

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.57 percent to 16,543.40 while the NASDAQ surged 0.95 percent to 4,160.65. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.49 percent to 1,881.02.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Tuesday, healthcare shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.50 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Allergan AGN, up 15.7 percent, and Idera Pharmaceuticals IDRA, up 16.5 percent. Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped around 0.05 percent in today's trading.

Top decliners in the sector included The Coca-Cola Company KO, off 0.3 percent, and Kimberly-Clark KMB, down 1.8 percent.

Top Headline
McDonald's MCD reported a drop in its first-quarter profit. McDonald's posted its quarterly profit of $1.20 billion, or $1.21 per share, down from $1.27 billion, or $1.26 per share, in the year-ago period. Its total revenue rose to $6.70 billion versus $6.61 billion, while operating income slipped to $1.94 billion versus $1.95 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $1.24 per share on revenue of $6.71 billion. McDonald's global same-store sales climbed 0.5%, while US same-store sales declined 1.7%. Equities Trading UP
Revance Therapeutics RVNC shares shot up 14.01 percent to $32.63 after the company reported positive results from the RT002 Phase 1/2 study in glabellar (frown) lines.

Shares of Centene CNC got a boost, shooting up 12.72 percent to $64.58 on upbeat quarterly results. Centene reported its Q1 earnings of $0.57 per share on revenue of $3.46 billion.

Allergan AGN shares were also up, gaining 15.49 percent to $163.99 on buyout offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International VRX.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Medidata Solutions MDSO were 27.49 percent to $38.21 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.

Lexmark International LXK shares tumbled 10.80 percent to $41.72 after the company reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.92 per share on revenue of $877.70 million.

Koninklijke Philips NV PHG was down, falling 5.52 percent to $32.68 after the company reported a drop in its Q1 profit.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.91 percent to $102.38, while gold traded down 0.52 percent to $1,281.80. Silver traded up 0.05 percent Tuesday to $19.36, while copper rose 0.10 percent to $3.03.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today.

The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.37 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.46 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.98 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.18 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.89 percent.

Economics
The ICSC-Goldman same-store sales index gained 0.4% in the week ended Saturday versus the prior week.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index dropped 0.5% in the first two weeks of April versus March.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.60% in February, versus economists' expectations for a 0.50% growth.

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index rose to 7.00 in April, versus a prior reading of -7.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 2.00.

Sales of existing homes declined 0.2% to an annual rate of 4.59 million in March, versus a rate of 4.6 million in February, the National Association of Realtors said. However, economists were projecting a sales rate of 4.55 million.