Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Tumble; Morgan Stanley Profit Misses Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.56 percent to 17,414.41 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.25 percent to 4,622.59. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.38 percent to 2,011.82.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Tuesday, telecommunications services shares rose by 0.15 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Vonage Holdings Corporation VG, up 3.7 percent, and Telefónica, S.A. TEF, up 3.3 percent.

Energy shares dropped by 1.4 percent in the US market on Tuesday. Top losers in the sector included Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. MHR, down 7.2 percent, Goodrich Petroleum Corp. GDP, off 6.8 percent.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley MS reported downbeat results for the fourth quarter.

The New York-based bank posted quarterly income from continuing operations applicable to Morgan Stanley of $1 billion, or $0.47 per share, compared to $95 million, or $0.02 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, Morgan Stanley earned $0.40 per share.

Its revenue came in flat at $7.8 billion. Excluding DVA, net revenue slipped to $7.5 billion from $8.2 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.48 per share on revenue of $8.08 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation SWHC shares shot up 13.32 percent to $11.36 after the company issued a strong forecast. Smith & Wesson expected FY15 earnings of $0.74 to $0.78 per share on revenue of $526.0 million to $530.0 million.

Shares of Unilife Corporation UNIS got a boost, shooting up 5.44 percent to $4.46 following the announcement of deal with AbbVie.

PetMed Express, Inc. PETS shares were also up, gaining 6.14 percent to $15.04 after the company reported higher earnings for the fiscal third quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Gran Tierra Energy, Inc. GTE shares tumbled 26.81 percent to $2.64 after the company provided an operations update.

Shares of iGATE Corporation IGTE were down 21.60 percent to $33.21 after the company reported downbeat earnings for the fourth quarter.

Express Inc. EXPR was down, falling 15.30 percent to $12.23 following the announcement of termination of buyout discussions with Sycamore Partners.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.50 percent to $46.50, while gold traded up 0.75 percent to $1,286.50.

Silver traded up 4.11 percent Tuesday to $17.81, while copper rose 0.70 percent to $2.58.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.32 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.98 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.12 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.27 percent while UK shares gained 0.66 percent.

Economics

The NAHB housing market index declined 1 point to 57 in January. However, economists were expecting a reading of 58.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.

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Posted In: EarningsNewsGuidanceEurozoneFuturesCommoditiesM&AEcon #sMarkets
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