Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Helen of Troy Beats Q2 Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.26 percent to 26,418.93 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.11 percent to 7,744.33. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.07 percent to 2,882.49.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the consumer discretionary shares rose 0.66 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sunlands Online Education Group - ADR STG up 15 percent, and Papa John's Int'l, Inc. PZZA up 7 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, materials shares fell 1.46 percent.

Top Headline

Helen of Troy Limited HELE reported upbeat results for its second quarter and raised its FY19 guidance.

Helen of Troy posted Q2 adjusted earnings of $1.98 per share on sales of $393.55 million. However, analysts expected earnings of $1.60 per share on sales of $349.19 million.

Helen of Troy now expects FY19 adjusted earnings to $7.65 to $7.90 per share, and sales of $1.54 billion to $1.56 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Agile Therapeutics, Inc. AGRX shares shot up 110 percent to $0.9682 after the company completed a formal dispute resolution process with the FDA.

Shares of GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc. GCAP got a boost, shooting up 11 percent to $7.64. GAIN Capital commenced a "modified Dutch auction" tender offer to purchase up to $50 million of shares of its common stock.

Papa John's International, Inc. PZZA shares were also up, gaining 7 percent to $53.57. Trian Fund Management LP is exploring a buyout bid for the world’s third-largest pizza chain, according to The Wall Street Journal. The prospective buyer is reportedly one of many, including other companies and private-equity firms.

Equities Trading DOWN

Trevena Inc TRVN shares dropped 61 percent to $1.17 after the FDA Staff noted that data assessment led to finding company’s opioid treatment has abuse, overdose potential and ability to product a physical dependence, Reuters reported.

Shares of Affimed N.V. AFMD were down 27 percent to $3.40 after the company said it has put its CD19/CD3-targeting T cell engager AFM11 on clinical hold. AFM11 is being evaluated in two early-stage clinical trials to treat patients with relapsed or refractory CD19 positive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or NHL, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.

Blackbaud, Inc. BLKB was down, falling around 12 percent to $79.30 after the company lowered its FY18 earnings and sales guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.73 percent to $74.83 while gold traded up 0.19 percent to $1,190.80.

Silver traded up 0.22 percent Tuesday to $14.36, while copper fell 0.23 to $2.7605.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.4 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.08 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.26 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.53 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.33 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.41 percent.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index declined 0.9 point to a reading of 108.8 in September.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-month bills, 6-month bills and 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 4-week bills at 1:00 p.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Bali, Indonesia at 9:15 p.m. ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in Bali, Indonesia at 10:35 p.m. ET.