Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Booz Allen Hamilton Earnings Top Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.26 percent to 25,651 while the NASDAQ rose 0.28 percent to 7,658. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.22 percent to 2,832.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 0.9 percent on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Momo Inc MOMO, up 11 percent, and DHX Media Ltd. DHXM, up 7 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell by 0.2 percent.

Top Headline

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation BAH reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Booz Allen Hamilton reported adjusted quarterly earnings of 64 cents per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 62 cents. The company’s quarterly sales of $1.78 billion beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.74 billion.

Booz Allen Hamilton said it expects FY20 adjusted earnings of $2.90 to $3.05 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $3.00 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Soliton Inc SOLY shares shot up 40 percent to $8.05 after the company received FDA 510(k) approval for its acoustic wave device for dermal tattoo clearing.

Shares of Safe-T Group Ltd SFET got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $2.59 after reporting an order from a leading European consumer electronics manufacturer for its Software Defined Perimeter solution.

Anaplan, Inc. PLAN shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $44.77 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 EPS and sales results. The company also raised its FY19 sales guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. KZR shares tumbled 39 percent to $10.33. Kezar Life Sciences announced acceptance of abstract for presentation of first in patient study with KZR-616 at the EULAR 2019 Annual Meeting.

Shares of Roku, Inc. ROKU were down 6 percent to $90.20 after Stephen & Co downgraded the company's stock from Overweight to Equal-Weight.

Seadrill Limited SDRL was down, falling 16 percent to $4.61.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9 percent to $59.15, while gold traded down 0.6 percent to $1,276.10.

Silver traded down 1.4 percent Tuesday to $14.345, while copper rose 0.3 percent to $2.7075.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.1 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.1 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.1 percent while UK shares rose 0.5 percent.

Economics

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index increased 2.7 percent year-over-year in March, versus a revised 3 percent rise in the prior month.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index rose 0.1 percent for March, versus a revised 0.4 percent gain in February.

The Conference Board consumer confidence index increased to 134.1 in May, compared to previous reading of 129.2.

The Treasury is set to auction 6-month bills and 2-year notes at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 3-month bills and 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.