Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Alphabet Profit Tops Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.53 percent to 25,176.57 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.95 percent to 7,916.55. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.66 percent to 2,825.62.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the energy shares climbed 1.16 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Legacy Reserves LP LGCY up 5 percent, and Penn Virginia Corporation PVAC up 5 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.99 percent.

Top Headline

Alphabet Inc GOOGL reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Monday.

Alphabet posted quarterly profit of $10.58 per share, on revenue of $32.66 billion. Analysts projected earnings of 9.59 per share on revenue of $32.17 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Constellium N.V. CSTM shares shot up 14 percent to $12.60 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Shares of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. EYEG got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $0.713 after the company reported the FDA approval of two Investigational Device Exemption applications for the company’s Ocular Bandage Gel.

Bridgeline Digital, Inc. BLIN shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $1.87 as the company disclosed that a global engine manufacturer launched a UK B2C eCommerce website on Bridgeline's Unbound Platform.

Equities Trading DOWN

Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. BBGI shares dropped 16 percent to $7.45. Beasley Broadcast Group priced its 3.13 million share offering at $7.50 per share.

Shares of Whirlpool Corporation WHR were down 13 percent to $130.81 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter and lowered its FY18 guidance.

FCB Financial Holdings, Inc. FCB was down, falling around 9 percent to $54.10. Synovus announced plans to Acquire FCB Financial for $2.9 billion. FCB Financial posted Q2 earnings of $0.94 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.71 percent to $68.37 while gold traded up 0.13 percent to $1,236.00.

Silver traded up 0.84 percent Tuesday to $15.555, while copper rose 1.60 to $2.7905.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.92 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.68 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.80 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.47 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.96 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.91 percent.

Economics

The Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 55.50 for July, versus prior reading of 55.40. The services PMI slipped to 56.20 for July, versus previous reading of 56.50.

The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index declined to 20 in July, compared to 21 in June.

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

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