Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Gain; Home Depot Earnings Top Street View

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.23 percent to 17,687.76 while the NASDAQ surged 0.62 percent to 4,700.17. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.38 percent to 2,048.99.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Healthcare shares jumped by 1.16 percent on Tuesday. Top gainers in the sector included Sucampo Pharmaceuticals SCMP, up 7.3 percent, and Prestige Brands Holdings PBH, up 6 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.05 percent. Top losers in the sector included Alpha Natural Resources ANR, down 4.7 percent, and Alon USA Energy ALJ, off 3.1 percent.

Top Headline

The Home Depot HD reported a better-than-expected profit for the third quarter.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based company posted a quarterly profit of $1.54 billion, or $1.15 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.35 billion, or $0.95 per share.

Its net sales climbed 5.4% to $20.52 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.13 per share on revenue of $20.47 billion.

Equities Trading UP

TerraForm Power TERP shares shot up 20.76 percent to $31.21. SunEdison and TerraForm Power announced a deal to buy First Wind for $2.4 billion. TerraForm raised its 2015 dividend outlook to $1.30 per share.

Shares of Organovo Holdings ONVO got a boost, shooting up 9.28 percent to $6.71 after the company announced the commercial release of the exVive3D™ Human Liver Tissue.

SunEdison SUNE shares were also up, gaining 21.61 percent to $20.20 after the company and TerraForm Power announced a deal to buy First Wind for $2.4 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Urban Outfitters URBN were down 7.20 percent to $28.61 after the company reported weaker-than-expected third quarter earnings. However, the company posted revenue of $814.74 million, slightly above estimates. Its comparable Retail segment net sales slipped 1%.

The TJX Companies TJX shares tumbled 2.42 percent to $60.05 after the company met third-quarter expectations Tuesday but offered an outlook below the Wall Street consensus.

Agilent Technologies A was down, falling 1.77 percent to $40.51 after the company reported FQ4 financial results Monday with orders of $1.91 billion, up 4% versus a year ago. Its revenue came in at $1.81 billion, inline with estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.45 percent to $75.30, while gold traded up 1.30 percent to $1,198.90.

Silver traded up 1.30 percent Tuesday to $16.27, while copper fell 1.39 percent to $2.99.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 1.02 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.64 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX jumped 1.16 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.68 percent while UK shares rose 0.47 percent.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 0.9% in the first two weeks of November versus October.

The ICSC-Goldman Store Sales Index rose 0.2% in the latest week ended Saturday versus the earlier week.

The NAHB housing market index surged to 58.00 in November, versus a prior reading of 54.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 55.00.

U.S. producer prices increased 0.2% in October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1% drop.