Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Yum! Brands Profit Beats Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.34 percent to 15,425.66 while the NASDAQ surged 0.72 percent to 4,025.55. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.54 percent to 1,751.32.

Yesterday, Yum! Brands

reported

fourth-quarter earnings. Yum Brands posted its quarterly profit of $321 million, or $0.70 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $337 million, or $0.72 per share. Excluding one-time items, Yum earned $0.86 per share. Its total revenue climbed 1% to $4.18 billion versus $4.15 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.79 per share on revenue of $4.26 billion. The company expected earnings per-share growth of at least 20% for 2014.

ATMI

shot up 25.38 percent to $33.76 after the company reported upbeat Q4 earnings. Entegris

announced its plans to acquire ATMI. Shares of Furiex Pharmaceuticals

got a boost, shooting up 146.49 percent to $113.31 on positive top-line results from two pivotal Phase III clinical trials of eluxadoline for IBS-d. Michael Kors Holdings

was also up, gaining 20.58 percent to $92.44 after the company

and issued strong FY14 outlook.

Shares of ARM Holdings plc

were down 8.91 percent to $41.73 after the company

in the fourth quarter. Take-Two Interactive Software

shares tumbled 8.47 percent to $17.30 on weak Q4 forecast. Benchmark downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold. Dun & Bradstreet

was down, falling 6.12 percent to $99.94 after the company reported downbeat Q4 earnings.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.99 percent to $97.38, while gold traded down 0.79 percent to $1,250.00. Silver traded down 0.51 percent Tuesday to $19.31, while copper rose 0.38 percent to $3.20.

European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.56 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.63 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX tumbled 0.55 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.50 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.31 percent.

The ICSC Goldman same store sales gained 0.3% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week. US factory orders fell 1.50% in December, versus economists' expectations for a 1.80% decline. The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.2% in the first four weeks of January versus December. The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 52-week bills.