Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Carnival Issues Weak Profit Outlook

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.78 percent to 25,715.07 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.12 percent to 7,723.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.90 percent to 2,823.44.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the energy shares climbed 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. AE up 8 percent, and Weatherford International plc WFT up 9 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares rose by just 0.2 percent.

Top Headline

Carnival Corp CCL reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but issued weak profit outlook.

Carnival reported quarterly earnings of $0.49 per share on sales of $4.673 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.44 per share on sales of $4.31 billion.

Carnival said it expects Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.56 to $0.60 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.72 per share. The company now projects 2019 adjusted earnings of $4.35 to $4.55 per share, versus previous forecast of $4.50 to $4.80 per share.

 

Equities Trading UP

Hunter Maritime Acquisition Corp. HUNT shares got a boost, shooting up 97 percent to $18.41 after surging 96.90 percent on Monday.

Shares of Aldeyra Therapeutics, Inc. ALDX shot up 44 percent to $10.27 after the company's phase 3 trial for allergic conjunctivitis met its primary endpoint.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $17.33 following media reports that three activist hedge funds plan to launch a proxy fight to replace all 12 current board members. Raymond James upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond from Market Perform to Strong Buy.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

Neogen Corporation NEOG shares dropped 15 percent to $51.82 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales.

Shares of OpGen, Inc. OPGN were down 37 percent to $0.5564 after the company filed a 'Notice of Effectiveness' with the SEC. OpGen priced 9 million shares at $0.60 per share.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. CANF was down, falling around 32 percent to $0.8814 after the company's phase 2 trial for advanced liver cancer did not meet its primary endpoint.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.3 percent to $60.18 while gold traded down 0.4 percent to $1,323.60.

Silver traded down 0.5 percent Tuesday to $15.495, while copper fell 0.02 percent to $2.8565.

 

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.8 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.3 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.5 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.9 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.5 percent.

Economics

Housing starts fell 8.7 percent at an annual pace of 1.16 million in February. However, economists were expecting a 1.21 million rate. Permits declined 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.3 million.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.1 percent during the first four weeks of March versus February.

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index rose 3.6 percent year-over-year in January, versus a 4.1 percent rise in the prior month.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.6 percent in January, versus a 0.3 percent increase in the prior month.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 124.10 in March, versus previous reading of 131.40. Economists expected a reading of 132.00.

The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index fell to 2.00 for March, versus prior reading of 16.00. However, economists projected a reading of 12.00.

The Treasury is set to auction 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

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

Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Hong Kong at 8:30 p.m. ET.