Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.43 percent to 19,968.87 while the NASDAQ rose 0.39 percent to 5,478.97.
The S&P also rose, gaining 0.29 percent to 2,269.15.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Basic materials shares gained around 0.77 percent in trading on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included
Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ: CENX), and Cliffs
Natural Resources Inc (NYSE: CLF).
In trading on Tuesday, healthcare shares slipped by 0.16 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Sucampo
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMP), down 22 percent,
and Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO), down 12
percent.
Top Headline
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ: BBRY) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter on Tuesday.
BlackBerry posted adjusted earnings of $0.01 per share in the quarter on revenue of $301 million. Wall Street analysts were
expecting the company to lose $0.01 per share on revenue of $332 million.
Equities Trading UP
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: CNAT) shares
shot up 158 percent to $5.06 following announcement of a licensing deal with Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE: NVS).
Shares of Fred's, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) got a boost,
shooting up 88 percent to $20.93. Fred's and its subsidiary Fred's Pharmacy, agreed to purchase 865 stores and certain assets from
Walgreens and Rite Aid in a deal valued at $950 million.
Akebia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: AKBA) shares were
also up, gaining 23 percent to $10.25. Akebia and Otsuka Pharmaceutical announced a partnership to develop and commercialize
vadadustat in the U.S.
Equities Trading DOWN
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMP)
shares dropped 22 percent to $13.02 after the company reported a proposed convertible senior note offering.
Shares of NeoPhotonics Corp (NYSE: NPTN) were down
15 percent to $10.59. NeoPhotonics issued a weak outlook for the fourth quarter and reported a deal to sell its Low Speed
transceiver unit to APAT Optoelectronics for $26.4 million.
Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WOR) was down,
falling around 8 percent to $51.29 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter on
Monday.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.53 percent to $53.34 while gold traded down 0.83 percent to $1,133.20.
Silver traded up 0.04 percent Tuesday to $16.10, while copper rose 0.14 percent to $2.50.
Eurozone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.48 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.76 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.47 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.56
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.38 percent.
Economics
The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.5 percent during the first three weeks of December versus November.
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