Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Alcoa Profit Beats Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.40 percent to 17,888.17 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.73 percent to 4,745.57. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.29 percent to 2,054.44.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Tuesday, technology shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.90 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Emulex Corporation ELX, up 22.5 percent, and SYNNEX Corp. SNX, up 9.5 percent.

Basic materials shares rose by just 0.1 percent in the US market on Tuesday. Top losers in the sector included Yamana Gold, Inc. AUY, down 8.4 percent, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited AEM, off 3.8 percent.

Top Headline

Alcoa Inc AA reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

The company swung to fourth-quarter net income of $159 million, or $0.11 a share, from a year-earlier loss of $2.3 billion, or $2.19 a share. Adjusted earnings for the recent period equaled $0.33 a share, versus $0.04 a share last year.

Fourth quarter revenue grew 14 percent to $6.4 billion, from $5.6 billion a year earlier. Wall Street expected fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.25 a share, on revenue of $6 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Emulex Corporation ELX shares shot up 22.07 percent to $7.08 after the company raised its Q2 guidance.

Shares of Pharmacyclics Inc. PCYC got a boost, shooting up 17.15 percent to $144.93 after the company announced strong preliminary revenue results.

Bebe Stores, Inc. BEBE shares were also up, gaining 19.35 percent to $2.96 after the company reported an 8% gain in its same-store sales for the second quarter. The company projected adjusted quarterly loss at the high end of its earlier forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN

ChannelAdvisor Corporation ECOM shares tumbled 52.81 percent to $9.98 after the company issued a negative revenue outlook. Various analysts, including Deutsche Bank, Janney Capital, Stifel Nicolaus, Baird downgraded ChannelAdvisor today.

Shares of Ocwen Financial Corp. OCN were down 26.05 percent to $9.02. California is seeking to suspend the company’s mortgage license, LA Times reported.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. ANW was down, falling 10.69 percent to $12.98. Aegean Marine Petroleum Network announced the upsizing and pricing of public offering of 4.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2018.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.97 percent to $44.70, while gold traded up 0.51 percent to $1,239.10.

Silver traded up 3.15 percent Tuesday to $17.09, while copper fell 2.66 percent to $2.65.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 jumped 1.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 1.29 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 1.37 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.19 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.32 percent while UK shares gained 0.53 percent.

Economics

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased 2.3 points to 100.4 in December.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index dropped 3.2% in the first week of January versus December.

U.S. job openings increased to 4.97 million in November, compared to 4.83 million in October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The U.S. Treasury monthly budget report for December will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills and 10-year notes.