Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Home Depot Beats Q4 Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.25 percent to 16,579.78 while the NASDAQ slipped 0.39 percent to 4,552.67. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.39 percent to 1,937.85. Leading and Lagging Sectors Tuesday morning, the cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, Inc. BBRG and Trex Company, Inc. TREX. In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares dropped by 1.17 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Innophos Holdings, Inc. IPHS, down 19 percent, and Century Aluminum Co CENX, down 8 percent. Top Headline Home Depot Inc HD reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. Home Depot said it earned $1.17 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $20.98 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.10 per share on revenue of $20.39 billion. Comparable store sales for the quarter were +7.1 percent. Home Depot's Board of Directors also authorized a 17 percent increase to its quarterly dividend and investors will receive $0.69 per share. Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Home Depot expects to earn $6.12 to $6.18 per share on revenue of $88.084 billion to $88.838 billion. Wall Street analysts were already estimating the company to earn $6.16 per share on revenue of $93.12 billion. Equities Trading UP Newport Corp NEWP shares shot up 51 percent to $22.76. MKS Instruments, Inc. MKSI announced plans to buy Newport for $980 million. Newport reported upbeat Q4 earnings. Shares of Lantheus Holdings Inc LNTH got a boost, shooting up 20 percent to $2.44 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings. MRC Global Inc MRC shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $11.30 after the company reported upbeat Q4 earnings. Equities Trading DOWN PTC Therapeutics, Inc. PTCT shares dropped 46 percent to $15.35 following announcement of receipt of refuse to file letter from the FDA for Translarna. Shares of Chegg Inc CHGG were down 38 percent to $3.29. Chegg reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, but the company missed analysts' sales estimates. The company also issued a weak forecast for sales. Power Solutions International Inc PSIX was down, falling around 23 percent to $8.30 after the company reported downbeat quarterly revenue and issued a weak FY16 revenue forecast. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 0.93 percent to $33.08, while gold traded up 0.96 percent to $1,221.70. Silver traded up 0.26 percent Tuesday to $15.26, while copper fell 0.42 percent to $2.11. Eurozone European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 0.39 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.24 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.66 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.82 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 0.49 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.63 percent. Economics The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index was steady for December. However, home prices adjusted for seasonal variations rose 0.8 percent in December. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 92.2 in February, compared to a revised reading of 97.8 in January. However, economists were projecting a reading of 96.9. Sales of existing homes increased 0.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.47 million in January. However, economists were expecting a 5.30 million rate. The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index fell to a reading of -4.00 in February, versus a prior reading of 2.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 2.00.