Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Lennar Tops Q3 Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.44 percent to 18,200.26 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.39 percent to 5,255.70. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.41 percent to 2,147.91.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, healthcare shares gained 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sarepta Therapeutics Inc SRPT, and BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. BSTC.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares rose by just 0.04 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Tidewater Inc. TDW, down 13 percent, and Encana Corp (USA) ECA, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Lennar Corporation LEN reported 5.6 percent year-over-year earnings growth for the third quarter driven by 14 percent uptick in top line that came in above the Street analysts' estimates.

The company reported net earnings of $235.8 million, up 5.6 percent from $223.3 million while EPS advanced 5.2 percent from $0.96 to $1.01. Street analysts' expected the company to deliver an EPS of $0.90.

Lennar revenue increased 14 percent from $2.49 billion to $2.83 billion thus beating the Street estimates of $2.68 billion. While deliveries advanced 7 percent, new orders volume grew 8 percent and backlog volume increased 12 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Tobira Therapeutics Inc TBRA shares shot up 728 percent to $39.23 after Allergan plc AGN agreed to acquire Tobira Therapeutics for an upfront payment of $28.35 per share in cash and up to $49.84 per share in contingent value rights.

Shares of DTS Inc. DTSI got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $42.15. Tessera Technologies, Inc. TSRA and DTS, Inc. reached a definitive agreement through which the former would buy the latter for $42.50 a share in cash.

Natural Alternatives International, Inc. NAII shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $12.09. Natural Alternatives reported Q4 earnings of $0.52 per share on sales of $35.7 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ascena Retail Group Inc ASNA shares dropped 27 percent to $5.94 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the first quarter.

Shares of HNI Corp HNI were down 18 percent to $44.60 after the company lowered its Q3 and FY earnings outlook.

MGT Capital Investments Inc. MGT was down, falling around 20 percent to $2.01 after the company issued an update on status of D-Vassive acquisition. The company has been told that it cannot list 43.8 million shares on the NYSE to close D-Vassive merger. MGT Capital still remains committed to close the deal.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.48 percent to $43.21 while gold traded down 0.11 percent to $1,316.30.

Silver traded down 0.65 percent Tuesday to $19.17, while copper fell 0.02 percent to $2.16.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.27 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.06 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.87 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.62 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.32 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.65 percent.

Economics

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today.

Housing starts declined 5.8 percent in August to an annual pace of 1.14 million. Economists were expecting a 1.19 million pace for the month.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.5 percent during the first three weeks of September versus August.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.