Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Helen of Troy Beats Q3 Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.50 percent to 23,649.98 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.20 percent to 6,837.40. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.33 percent to 2,558.06.


Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the industrial shares climbed 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Union Pacific Corporation UNP up 9 percent, and AZZ Inc AZZ up 7 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.1 percent.


Top Headline

Helen of Troy Limited HELE reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter, but lowered its full-year sales forecast.

Helen of Troy posted Q3 earnings of $2.40 per share on sales of $431.08 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $2.38 per share on sales of $425.76 million.

Helen of Troy now expects FY19 sales of $1.535 billion to $1.550 billion, versus prior forecast of $1.535 billion to $1.560 billion. However, the company raised its adjusted earnings forecast to $7.70 to $7.95 per share, versus previous outlook of $7.60 to $7.90.


Equities Trading UP

HopFed Bancorp, Inc. HFBC shares got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $18.70. First Financial Corp THFF and HopFed Bancorp signed a merger agreement.

Shares of Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. AXSM shot up 27 percent to $8.75 on continued strength after the company on Monday announced its Phase 2 trial of AXS-05 in major depressive order met its primary endpoint. Axsome Therapeutics raised $23.3 million under existing at-the-market facility.

Motorcar Parts of America, Inc. MPAA shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $21.42 after the company beat Q2 sales estimates and reported year-over-year EPS growth.


Equities Trading DOWN


Maxar Technologies Ltd. MAXR shares dropped 32 percent to $5.47. Maxar Technologies dropped 31.48 percent on Monday after the company reported failure of its WorldView-4 Satellite. Credit Suisse downgraded Maxar Technologies from Neutral to Underperform.

Shares of PG&E Corporation PCG were down 11 percent to $16.85 after S&P Global lowered the rating on PG&E and its Pacific Power & Gas Co unit to "B" from "BBB-" on announced board review.

First Financial Corporation THFF was down, falling around 10 percent to $38.26. First Financial and HopFed Bancorp signed a merger agreement.

 

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.1 percent to $49.54 while gold traded down 0.6 percent to $1,282.00.


Silver traded down 0.6 percent Tuesday to $15.66, while copper rose 0.4 percent to $2.648.

 

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 1.4 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.3 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.1 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.4 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.7 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.15 percent.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index declined 0.4 point to a reading of 104.4 in December.

U.S. job openings dropped to 6.89 million in November from 7.13 million, according to the Labor Department's JOLTS report.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Posted In: NewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Morning Market Update
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