Mid-Day Market Update: Estee Lauder Jumps On Upbeat Earnings; Opko Health Shares Slide

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.66 percent to 25,406.86 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.75 percent to 7,402.94. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.45 percent to 2,737.03.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the consumer discretionary shares climbed 1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Leggett & Platt, Inc. LEG up 12 percent, and M/I Homes Inc MHO up 14 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, financial shares fell 0.5 percent.

Top Headline

Archer Daniels Midland Co ADM reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Archer Daniels delivered earnings of $0.88 per share, missing estimates of $0.93 per share. The company’s revenue came in at $15.95 billion, versus estimates of $16.81 billion. Archer Daniels Midland raised its quarterly dividend from $0.335 to $0.35 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Amyris, Inc. AMRS shares got a boost, shooting up 43 percent to $4.5100 after the company announced a $255 million cannabinoid development, licensing, and commercialization agreement.

Shares of Argan, Inc. AGX shot up 14 percent to $47.33. Argan’s wholly owned subsidiary, Gemma Power Systems, entered into an EPC contract and received a limited notice to proceed for 1.8 gigawatt power project.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc EL shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $155.91 after the company reported upbeat Q2 earnings and raised its full-year guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Opko Health Inc. OPK shares dropped 19 percent to $2.8350 after the company announced a proposed offering of $200 million in convertible senior notes.

Shares of BioLineRx Ltd. BLRX were down 39 percent to $0.4490 after reporting a proposed underwritten public offering of its American Depositary Shares and warrants.

Control4 Corporation CTRL was down, falling around 16 percent to $17.84 after the company reported Q4 sales of $72.487M versus the $73.16M estimate. The company also reported it sees Q1 EPS of $0.08 to $0.11 versus the $0.22 estimate.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.04 percent to $54.58 while gold traded down 0.01 percent to $1,319.20.

Silver traded down 0.13 percent Tuesday to $15.865, while copper rose 0.73 percent to $2.815.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.3 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 1.1 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 1.6 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.5 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.9 percent.

Economics

U.S. Markit composite PMI slipped to 54.40 for January, versus prior reading of 54.50. Economists expected a reading of 54.50. The Markit final services PMI was unchanged at 54.2 in January.

The ISM non-manufacturing composite index dropped to 56.70 in January, versus previous reading of 58.00. However, economists were projecting a reading of 57.20.

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