Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Jumps 200 Points; Community Health Systems Shares Drop On Downbeat Results

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.27 percent to 16,176.38 while the NASDAQ climbed 2.09 percent to 4,428.12. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.51 percent to 1,892.85. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Tuesday, technology shares surged by 2.30 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sonus Networks, Inc. SONS, up 24 percent, and Cray Inc. CRAY up 20 percent. In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares rose by just 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Pure Cycle Corporation PCYO, down 4 percent, and Pampa Energia S.A. (ADR) PAM, down 4 percent. Top Headline Hormel Foods Corp HRL reported a rise in its profit for the fiscal year 2016 first quarter and raised its forecast for the year. For 2016, Hormel Foods now expects earnings of $1.50 to $1.56 per share, versus prior outlook of $1.43 to $1.48 per share. Hormel reported quarterly earnings of $235.1 million, or $0.43 per share, compared to $171.7 million, or $0.32 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue declined 4.3 percent to $2.29 billion. Analysts projected a profit of $0.37 per share on revenue of $2.4 billion. Equities Trading UP ADT Corp ADT shares shot up 49 percent to $39.95 after the company agreed to sell itself to an affiliate of certain funds managed by Apollo Global Management LLC APO for $42.00 per share. Shares of Groupon Inc GRPN got a boost, shooting up 39 percent to $4.01. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA disclosed a 5.6 percent stake in Groupon. Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $19.25 after the company reported that its fourth quarter and full year 2015 results will exceed its prior guidance. Equities Trading DOWN Gogo Inc GOGO shares dropped 30 percent to $9.79 after a report from Star Telgram said that American Airlines Group Inc AAL is suing Gogo and looking to switch Internet providers. Shares of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. TNXP were down 38 percent to $2.51 following the report of failed TNX-201 results. Community Health Systems CYH was down, falling around 26 percent to $13.82 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results and issued a weak full-year forecast. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 1.12 percent to $29.11, while gold traded down 2.63 percent to $1,206.80. Silver traded down 3.01 percent Tuesday to $15.32, while copper rose 1.13 percent to $2.05. Eurozone European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.43 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.51 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.49 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.78 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.11 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.65 percent. Economics The Empire State manufacturing index rose to negative 16.64 for February, compared to negative 19.37 in January. However, economists were expecting a reading of negative 10.00. The NAHB housing market index slipped to 58.00 in February, versus a previous reading of 60.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 60.00.