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Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.27 percent to 19,940.72 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.47 percent to 5,557.99. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.29 percent to 2,275.59.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Basic materials shares gained around 1.96 percent in trading on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZEUS), and Mechel PAO (ADR) (NYSE: MTL).
In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell by 0.05 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Targa Resources Corp (NYSE: TRGP), down 2 percent, and Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP), down 2 percent.
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Top Headline
Barracuda Networks Inc (NYSE: CUDA) reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter on Monday.
Barracuda reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.22 per share on revenue of $88.8 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.14 per share on revenue of $86.6 million.
Equities Trading UP
Pacific Continental Corporation (NASDAQ: PCBK) shares shot up 25 percent to $26.10 after the company announced plans to merge with Columbia Banking System Inc (NASDAQ: COLB).
Shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $162.43 after the company pre-announced its Q4:16 sales Monday above the consensus and the estimate, while guiding to 2017 revenue marginally above the consensus forecast at the midpoint. The EPS guidance is in line with the consensus. The company also announced the launch of its new sequencing platform, NovaSeq. Bank of America upgraded Illumina from Neutral to Buy.
Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: PPSI) shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $6.75 after the company issued a strong earnings forecast for 2017.
Equities Trading DOWN
hhgregg, Inc. (NYSE: HGG) shares dropped 40 percent to $0.790. hhgregg reported preliminary Q3 revenue of $453 million.
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Shares of Akers Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: AKER) were down around 14 percent to $1.33. Akers Biosciences reported the pricing of public offering of 1,667,000 shares and 833,500 warrants.
NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: NSTG) was down, falling around 22 percent to $17.95 after the company issued weak revenue forecast for FY2016.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.17 percent to $51.35 while gold traded up 0.27 percent to $1,188.10.
Silver traded up 1.24 percent Tuesday to $16.89, while copper rose 2.62 percent to $2.61.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.36 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.34 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.25 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.11 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.61 percent.
Economics
The NFIB small business optimism index rose 7.4 points to 105.8 in December. However, economists were projecting a reading of 99.6.
U.S. job openings increased to 5.52 million in November from 5.45 million in October, according to the Labor Department's JOLTS report. Economists expected job opening to drop 5.55 million.
U.S. wholesale inventories rose 1 percent for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.90 percent growth.
The Treasury will also auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?
New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.