Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Home Depot Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.45 percent to 17,631.40 while the NASDAQ declined 0.34 percent to 4,759.33. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.35 percent to 2,059.47.

Industrial shares slipped by just 0.1 percent in trading on Tuesday. Top gainers in the sector included

,

, and

. In trading on Tuesday, telecommunications services shares tumbled by 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 4 percent, and

, down 4 percent.

posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter and boosted its earnings forecast for the current year. Home Depot's quarterly earnings rose 19 percent to $1.44 per share from $1.21 per share in the same period of the last year. The retailer's sales increased to $22.8 billion from $20.89 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.35 per share on revenue of $22.35 billion. Going forward, Home Depot said it expects earnings to grow about 14.8 percent to $6.27 a share in the current year from the last year. Similarly, the company expects sales to go up by about 6.3 percent with comp sales growth of 4.9 percent.

shares shot up 39 percent to $2.16. Top Image Systems reported a Q1 loss of $0.02 per share on revenue of $8.5 million. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $4.70 after the company agreed to divest FL Mobile for RMB$3,243.5 million to Beijing Jinxin Rongda Investment Management Co. Ltd.

shares were also up, gaining 7 percent to $73.29 after the company reported better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter and lifted its earnings forecast for the current year.

shares dropped 28 percent to $10.75 as the company reported the resignation of Chairman, President and CEO Michael W. Barnes. The company expects Q1 earnings of $0.17 per share. Shares of

were down 18 percent to $1.90. Aegerion Pharma reported a Q1 loss of $2.22 per share on sales of $35.7 million. The company also lowered its FY16 sales outlook.

was down, falling around 11 percent to $3.49 after the company confirmed in a regulatory filing that it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.27 percent to $47.85 while gold traded down 0.09 percent to $1,273.10. Silver traded up 0.06 percent Tuesday to $17.17, while copper fell 0.26 percent to $2.08.

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.29 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.44 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.76 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.17 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.06 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.39 percent.

U.S. consumer prices rose 0.40 percent for April, versus economists' expectations for a 0.30 percent growth. U.S. housing starts increased 6.60 percent to an annual rate of 1.17 million in April. However, economists were projecting starts to increase at a 1.13 million rate. U.S. industrial production rose 0.70 percent for April, versus economists' expectations for a 0.30 percent gain.