Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Up 2.5%; Arena Pharmaceuticals Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.62 percent to 24,762.41 while the NASDAQ gained 0.37 percent to 7,371.19. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24 percent to 2,719.31.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the energy shares gained 1.33 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Profire Energy, Inc. PFIE, up 6 percent, and HollyFrontier Corporation HFC, up 5 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, telecommunication services shares fell 1.02 percent.

Top Headline

Oracle Corporation ORCL shares fell over 6 percent in after-hours trading despite reporting a third quarter earnings beat. Adjusted earnings came in at 83 cents per share, beating estimates by 11 cents. Sales came in at $9.776 billion, versus estimates of $9.781 billion.

The company also reported that third quarter cloud SaaS sales were up 33 percent year-over-year.

Equities Trading UP

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARNA shares shot up 33 percent to $41.14 as the company reported topline Phase 2 results from an ongoing trial of etrasimod called OASIS after Monday's market close.

Shares of Restoration Robotics, Inc. HAIR got a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $7.75 after the company disclosed that it has received the FDA clearance for implantation function.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MRNS shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $4.60.

Equities Trading DOWN

Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. PTI shares dropped 19 percent to $5.6501 after reporting proposed public offering of common stock.

Shares of Northern Oil and Gas, Inc NOG were down 17 percent to $1.915 after the company announced a $105 million offering. The company also raised FY18 production growth guidance.

The Children's Place, Inc. PLCE was down, falling around 7 percent to $129.375. Children's Place reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales misses estimates. The company also announced a $250 million buyback plan.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.5 percent to $63.62 while gold traded down 0.42 percent to $1,312.30.

Silver traded down 0.92 percent Tuesday to $16.175, while copper fell 1.12 percent to $3.0475.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.47 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.18 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.74 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.67 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.49 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.47 percent.

Economics

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