Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Drops Over 100 Points; Avon Shares Surge Following Earnings Beat

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.65 percent to 18,285.59 while the NASDAQ declined 1.09 percent to 5,127.94. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.83 percent to 2,152.92.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Sodastream International Ltd SODA and Avon Products, Inc. AVP.

In trading on Tuesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Texas Roadhouse Inc TXRH, down 12 percent, and Strattec Security Corp. STRT, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Pfizer Inc. PFE reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday.

Pfizer reported EPS of $0.64 and revenues of $13.1 billion. Analyst consensus had an EPS estimate of $0.62 and revenues of $13.0 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Advaxis, Inc. ADXS shares shot up 23 percent to $10.42. Advaxis and Amgen Inc. AMGN struck a collaboration deal for the development, as well as, commercialization of ADXS-NEO meant for the treatment of cancer immunotherapy.

Shares of RetailMeNot Inc SALE got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $9.92 after the company reported upbeat results for second quarter.

Avon Products, Inc. AVP shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $4.80 as the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cobalt International Energy, Inc. CIE shares dropped 26 percent to $1.00. Cobalt International Energy reported a wider loss for the second quarter.

Shares of Endurance International Group Hldgs Inc EIGI were down 23 percent to $6.89 after the company posted weak results for the second quarter.

Inteliquent Inc IQNT was down, falling around 16 percent to $17.47 as the company reported downbeat Q2 earnings and lowered its FY16 forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.10 percent to $40.10 while gold traded up 0.96 percent to $1,372.60.

Silver traded up 0.88 percent Tuesday to $20.68, while copper rose 0.75 percent to $2.22.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.32 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.88 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.77 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 1.82 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 1.87 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.72 percent.

Economics

U.S. consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent gain. Incomes increased 0.2 percent in the month, versus economists’ estimates of a 0.3 percent growth.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.6 percent during the first four weeks of July versus June.