Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Rise as NASDAQ Eyes Close Over 4,000

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.15 percent to 16,096.62 while the NASDAQ surged 0.71 percent to 4,022.77. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16 percent to 1805.39.

Top Headline
Tiffany & Co TIF reported a 50% surge in its third-quarter profit and lifted its outlook.

Tiffany's quarterly profit gained to $94.6 million, or $0.73 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $63.2 million, or $0.49 per share.

Its revenue climbed to $911.5 million from $852.7 million, while same-store sales rose 7%. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.58 per share on revenue of $888 million. Tiffany lifted its full-year earnings forecast to $3.65 to $3.75 per share, versus its earlier outlook of $3.50 to $3.60 per share.

Equities Trading UP
Jos. A Bank Clothiers JOSB shot up 11.19 percent to $56.26 after Men's Wearhouse MW proposed to acquire Jos. A. Bank for $55 per share in cash.

Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics SRPT gained 8.03 percent to $17.83 after WBB Securities rated the company with a Speculative Buy while bumping its price target to $19.

Palo Alto Networks PANW was also up, gaining 6.89 percent to $49.26 after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Nuance Communications NUAN were down 18.26 percent to $13.06 after the company issued a downbeat outlook. Wedbush downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral.

DSW DSW shares tumbled 5.45 percent to $44.65 after the company reported weak Q3 revenue.

21Vianet Group VNET was down, falling 7.66 percent to $16.99 after the company reported its unaudited Q3 financial results. Pacific Crest downgraded the stock from Outperform to Sector Perform.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.34 percent to $93.77, while gold traded up 0.06 percent to $1,241.80.

Silver traded down 2.06 percent Tuesday to $19.86, while copper fell 0.60 percent to $3.21.

Eurozone
European shares were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.42 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.13 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.12 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.47 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.63 percent.

Economics
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs store sales index rose 2.6% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.5% in the first three weeks of November from October.

US house prices rose 0.3% in September, and gained 8.5% y/y, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index climbed 0.7% in September and rose 13.3% y/y.

U.S. building permits rose 6.2% to an annual rate of 1.03 million in October, versus a revised 974,000 in September.

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index rose to 13.00 in November, from a prior reading of 1.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 4.00.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 70.40 in November, versus a prior reading of 71.20. However, economists were expecting reading of 72.60.

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes.