Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; Procter & Gamble Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.87 percent to 16,024.07 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.12 percent to 4,513.24. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.44 percent to 1,885.33. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Tuesday, basic materials shares rose by 1.25 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included AK Steel Holding Corporation AKS, up 11 percent, and Gold Fields Limited (ADR) GFI, up 9 percent. In trading on Tuesday, technology shares rose by just 0.15 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included TESSCO Technologies, Inc. TESS, down 9 percent, and Fortinet Inc FTNT, down 5 percent. Top Headline Procter & Gamble Co PG reported second-quarter earnings of $1.04 per share on revenue of $16.9 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.98 per share on revenue of $16.96 billion. Looking forward, Proctor & Gamble said it's maintaining its outlook for organic sales growth of in-line to up to low-single digits for the full fiscal year 2016. The company added it expects its all-in sales to be down by a high-single digit during fiscal 2016 due to foreign exchange rates and minor brand divestures. Core earnings per share for the full fiscal year 2016 (including foreign exchange impacts) is expected to be down 3 percent to 8 percent compared to 2015's results. Equities Trading UP Firstmerit Corp FMER shares shot up 20 percent to $18.50 after the company agreed to be acquired by Huntington Bancshares Incorporated HBAN for around $3.4 billion. Shares of Sprint Corp S got a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $2.84. Sprint reported a narrower loss for the third quarter and raised its operating income forecast for the full year. Sanmina Corp SANM shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $19.33. Sanmina reported in-line earnings for its first quarter, but the company's sales missed analysts' estimates. The company issued a strong earnings forecast for the current quarter. Equities Trading DOWN Stratasys, Ltd. SSYS shares dropped 10 percent to $15.06. JP Morgan downgraded Stratasys from Overweight to Neutral. Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS were down 7 percent to $49.87. Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT announced plans to separate and combine its Information Systems & Global Solutions business segment with Leidos. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated HBAN was down, falling around 9 percent to $8.04. Huntington announced plans to buy FirstMerit in a $3.4 billion deal. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.99 percent to $30.64, while gold traded up 0.75 percent to $1,113.90. Silver traded up 1.02 percent Tuesday to $14.40, while copper rose 1.45 percent to $2.03. Eurozone European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.53 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.92 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.24 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.32 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.01 percent. Economics The Federal Open Market Committee will start its 2-day meeting today. The FHFA House Price Index rose 0.5 percent in November. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose 0.9 percent in November versus October. The Markit services PMI fell to a reading of 53.70 in January, compared to a prior reading of 54.30. Economists estimated a reading of 54.00. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 98.10 in January, versus a previous reading of 96.50. Economists projected a reading of 96.50. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index fell to 2.00 in January, versus a prior reading of 6.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 3.00.