Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rally on Fiscal Cliff Deal, Skull Candy Takes a Beating

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.84 percent to 13,018.13 while the NASDAQ rose 2.42 percent to 3,082.44. The S&P also rose, increasing 1.86 percent to 1,452.77.

After a long period of indecision, Washington finally came to an agreement to avert the fiscal cliff. While critics have framed the agreement as simply “kicking the can down the road”, markets saw an early boost as traders celebrated the deal, even if its gains could be short-term.

Molycorp

shot up 16.95 percent in early trading Wednesday to $11.04 after Bloomberg reported the company could be a takeover target. Shares of Las Vegas Sands

traded up as well, gaining 6.69 percent to $49.25 after Macau gaming data was released yesterday and demonstrated a growing gaming market in the worlds largest gambling destination. MGIC Investment Corp

saw a boost too, rising 7.53 percent to $2.86 as the mortgage insurance provider benefited from the fiscal cliff resolution.

Watson Pharmaceuticals

fell 2.33 percent after the open to $84.00 following the report of a coming patent challenge on its drug Velacade. Skull Candy

took a hit in early trading, falling 10.01 percent to $7.01 following a downgrade to Underperform at Jefferies this morning. Shares of Dole Food Company

were also down, giving up 14.21 percent to $9.84 after the company announced that it expects to close its sale of Worldwide Packed foods.

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.97 percent to $93.63, while gold traded up 0.98 percent to $1,692.80. Silver traded up 1.05 percent Wednesday to $31.28.

In the eurozone today markets received a strong boost following a resolution over the U.S. fiscal cliff took precedence over the mixed PMI data released this morning.

In economic news Wednesday morning, the ISM manufacturing index was released, coming in at 50.70, edging slightly above the anticipated 50.50 and the prior release of 49.50. The ISM manufacturing prices came out as well, coming in at 55.50, slightly below the anticipated 55.80 and the previous figure of 52.50. Construction spending month over month was also reported, registering at -0.30 percent, below the projected 0.60 percent and the prior reading of 0.70 percent.