Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; Casey's Earnings Miss Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.35 percent to 24,472.34 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.01 percent to 6,875.35. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.09 percent to 2,662.42.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the telecommunication services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Zayo Group Holdings Inc ZAYO and VEON Ltd (ADR) VEON.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 0.38 percent.

Top Headline

Casey's General Stores Inc CASY reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Casey's reported Q2 earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $2.154 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.40 per share on sales of $2.18 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc PTI shares shot up 140 percent to $5.65 after the company disclosed 'positive' PTI-428 data with statistical significance.

Shares of Tel-Instrument Electronics Corp. TIK got a boost, shooting up 70 percent to $3.90 after the company reported $1 million of new orders.

Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc HMNY shares were also up, gaining 23 percent to $11.22. Just in time for the holidays, MoviePass, a movie-theater subscription service that's partially owned by analytics firm Helios and Matheson Analytics, will be available to Costco Wholesale Corporation clients at a special price.

Equities Trading DOWN

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PPHM shares dropped 20 percent to $4.27 after the company reported a Q2 loss of $12.6 million on revenue of $12.8 million.

Shares of Oasis Petroleum Inc. OAS were down 10 percent to $9.01 after the company reported a 32 million share common stock offering and Delaware Basin acquisition for $946 million. The company also raised its Q4 production guidance.

Acer Therapeutics Inc ACER was down, falling around 17 percent to $12.34. Acer Therapeutics priced its 917,000 share offering at $12 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.71 percent to $58.40 while gold traded down 0.24 percent to $1,243.90.

Silver traded down 0.35 percent Tuesday to $15.73, while copper rose 0.23 percent to $3.0185.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.41 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.33 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.06 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.19 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.53 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.21 percent.

Economics

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

The NFIB small business optimism index rose to 107.50 for November, versus prior reading of 103.80. However, analysts expected a reading of 104.60.

The Producer Price Index gained 0.4 percent for November, matching economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent growth.

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

The Treasury will auction 30-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for November is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.