Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Gain; Gray Television To Buy Schurz Communications' Television And Radio Stations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.28 percent to 16,416.15 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.27 percent to 4,818.60. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24 percent to 1,957.77.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.02 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Comstock Resources Inc CRK, up 10 percent, and Clean Energy Fuels Corp CLNE, up 6 percent.

Telecommunications services shares tumbled by 0.43 percent in Tuesday’s trading. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included NTT Docomo Inc (ADR) DCM, down 3 percent, and Telekomunikasi Indns Tbk Prshn PP PT-ADR TLK, off 2.5 percent.

Top Headline

Gray Television, Inc. GTN agreed to acquire all of the television and radio stations of Schurz Communications, Inc. for around $442.5 million.

Equities Trading UP

GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR GWPH shares shot up 9 percent to $116.69 after the company reported positive proof of concept data in schizophrenia.

Shares of Fitbit Inc FIT got a boost, shooting up 4 percent to $33.27. Piper Jaffray’s Erinn E. Murphy reiterated an Overweight rating and price target of $60 on Fitbit. Cleveland Research initiated coverage on Fitbit with a Neutral rating and a $38.00 price target.

Gray Television, Inc. GTN shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $12.79 after the company agreed to acquire all of the television and radio stations of Schurz Communications, Inc. for around $442.5 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

XenoPort, Inc. XNPT shares tumbled 22 percent to $5.27. XenoPort reported Phase 2 study results for XP23829 as a potential treatment for patients with psoriasis.

Shares of Shiloh Industries, Inc. SHLO were down 19 percent to $8.30. Shiloh Industries reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.11 per share on sales of $275.2 million.

Sonic Corporation SONC was down, falling 6 percent to $25.89. Sonic reported a 4.9 percent gain in its Q4 system-wide same store sales.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.82 percent to $44.36, while gold traded down 0.24 percent to $1,105.00.

Silver traded down 0.19 percent Tuesday to $14.34, while copper rose 0.27 percent to $2.41.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.23 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.92 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.21 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.07 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.07 percent.

Economics

US retail sales gained 0.2 percent in August, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth

The Empire State manufacturing index gained to negative 14.67 in September, versus negative 14.92 in August. However, economists were expecting a reading of -0.75.

US industrial production declined 0.40 percent in August, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent drop.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 1.2 percent in the first two weeks of September versus August.

Business inventories gained 0.1 percent to $1.81 trillion in July. However, economists were projecting a 0.1 percent growth.

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Posted In: EarningsNewsGuidanceEurozoneFuturesPrice TargetCommoditiesReiterationFDAM&AEconomicsIntraday UpdateMarketsAnalyst RatingsMovers
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