Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Wal-Mart Earnings Beat Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.38 percent to 20,702.96 while the NASDAQ gained 0.36 percent to 5,859.49. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.36 percent to 2,359.65.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed by 0.91 percent in trading on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc HLX, and Seadrill Ltd SDRL.

In trading on Tuesday, industrial shares fell by 0.16 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Unilever N.V. (ADR) UN, down 8 percent, and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp WAB, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

Wal-Mart posted Q4 earnings of $1.30 per share on revenue of $130.94 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.29 per share on revenue of $131.22 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Delta Natural Gas Company, Inc. DGAS shares shot up 15 percent to $30.10 after the company agreed to be acquired by Peoples Gas for $30.50 per share in cash.

Shares of Eyegate Pharmaceuticals Inc EYEG got a boost, shooting up 35 percent to $2.22 as the company reported a licensing agreement with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX.

Community Health Systems CYH shares were also up, gaining 31 percent to $9.06 after reporting upbeat Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Trevena Inc TRVN shares dropped 34 percent to $4.68 despite a positive development in Phase 3 trials. Trevena announced positive top-line results from ongoing Phase 3 trials called "APOLLO-1" and "APOLLO-2." The studies evaluated the safety of Trevena's oliceridine therapy in patients for 48 hours following bunionectomy and 24 hours following abdominoplasty.

Shares of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MNTA were down around 19 percent to $15.45. Momenta Pharmaceuticals reported Q4 earnings of $0.60 per share on revenue of $34.19 million.

Unilever plc (ADR) UL was down, falling around 9 percent to $44.37. Unilever and Kraft Heinz Co KHC announced Kraft Heinz has amicably agreed to withdraw its proposal for a combination of the companies.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.08 percent to $54.90 while gold traded down 0.82 percent to $1,228.90.

Silver traded down 0.90 percent Tuesday to $17.94, while copper rose 1.56 percent to $2.76.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.37 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.30 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.64 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.59 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.36 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.22 percent.

Economics

The Markit flash manufacturing PMI dropped to 54.3 in February, versus a reading of 55 in January.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak in Philadelphia at 12:00 p.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 4-week bills and 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Boise, Id. at 3:30 p.m. ET.