Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Surge; McDonald's Posts Lower Sales

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.46 percent to 16,474.87 while the NASDAQ surged 1.33 percent to 4,373.45. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.05 percent to 1,924.06.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.46 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Century Aluminum Co CENX, up 7.2 percent, and AK Steel Holding AKS, up 6.4 percent.

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares dropped 0.07 percent on Tuesday. Top losers in the sector included The Coca-Cola Company KO, down 6.6 percent, and TAL Education Group XRS, off 5.6 percent.

Top Headline

McDonald's MCD reported downbeat sales for the third quarter.

The company posted a quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.09 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.52 billion, or $1.52 per share. The latest quarter results included $0.42 per share in negative adjustments. Excluding one-time costs, the company earned $1.52 per share.

Its revenue declined to $6.99 billion from $7.32 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.37 per share on revenue of $7.20 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Lexmark International LXK shares shot up 5.53 percent to $41.82 after the company reported better-than-expected profit for the third quarter.

Shares of Illumina ILMN got a boost, shooting up 7.69 percent to $177.11 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings and raised its earnings guidance for the full year.

Harley-Davidson HOG shares were also up, gaining 5.88 percent to $61.81 after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Susser Petroleum Partners LP SUSP were down 9.46 percent to $45.09 after the company announced a public offering of 8 million common units representing limited partner interests.

ARM Holdings plc ARMH shares tumbled 7.87 percent to $38.29 on Q3 results.

The Coca-Cola Company KO was down, falling 6.29 percent to $40.56 after the company posted downbeat Q3 revenue and announced a new cost-cutting plan. The company said and it expected to be below its long-term EPS growth target in 2014 and 2015.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.06 percent to $83.59, while gold traded up 0.50 percent to $1,250.90.

Silver traded up 0.99 percent Tuesday to $17.53, while copper rose 1.26 percent to $3.03.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.83 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 2.28 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 2.44 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.73 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 2.07 percent while UK shares jumped 1.43 percent.

Economics

The ICSC-Goldman Store Sales Index dropped 0.3% in the week ended October 18 versus the earlier week.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.1% in the first two weeks of October versus September.

Sales of existing homes climbed 2.4% to an annual rate of 5.17 million in September. However, economists were projecting the sales rate to rise to 5.1 million in September.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills.