Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; US S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Rise 0.4%

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.15 percent to 21,824.89 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.78 percent to 6,243.17. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.31 percent to 2,358.26.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the consumer discretionary shares climbed 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included American Eagle Outfitters AEO up 5 percent, and Playags Inc AGS up 3 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.5 percent.

Top Headline

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 0.4 percent for October.

The index rose 5.0 percent year-over-year in October, versus a revised 5.2 percent increase in September. Economists were expecting a 0.2 percent monthly increase and 4.8 percent yearly rise in prices.

Equities Trading UP

Safe-T Group Ltd SFET shares got a boost, shooting up 30 percent to $3.68 after the company announced it received a purchase order for its Software Defined Access solution.

Shares of Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ADIL shot up 42 percent to $7.0229 after rising 15.12 percent on Monday.

China Customer Relations Centers, Inc. CCRC shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $13.10.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sphere 3D Corp. ANY shares dropped 9 percent to $2.1250.

Shares of Ever-Glory International Group, Inc. EVK were down 12 percent to $3.40.

YRC Worldwide Inc. YRCW was down, falling around 10 percent to $2.65.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.61 percent to $42.79 while gold traded up 0.46 percent to $1,277.60.

Silver traded up 0.81 percent Wednesday to $14.94, while copper rose 0.98 percent to $2.687.

Eurozone

European markets will remain close on Wednesday for the Boxing Day holiday.

Economics

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose 0.4 percent for October.

The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index dropped to a reading of -8.00 for December, versus prior reading of 14.00. However, economists expected a reading of 16.00.

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.