Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.19 percent to 24,554.77 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.13 percent to 6,990.66.
The S&P also fell, dropping 0.12 percent to 2,652.86.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Tuesday, the basic materials shares climbed 0.70 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Louisiana-Pacific
Corporation (NYSE: LPX), up 6 percent, and AptarGroup,
Inc. (NYSE: ATR), up 9 percent.
In trading on Tuesday, telecommunications services shares tumbled 0.66 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included
Telecom Italia SpA (ADR) (NYSE: TI), down 3 percent, and
Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) down 3 percent.
Top Headline
PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
The company said it earned $1.31 per share on revenue of $19.53 billion in the fourth quarter. However, Wall Street analysts
were expecting the company to earn $1.30 per share on revenue of $19.39 billion.
PepsiCo raised its annual dividend from $3.22 per share to $3.71 per share and announced a $15 billion buyback program. PepsiCo
expects FY 2018 adjusted earnings of $5.70 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.67 per share.
Equities Trading UP
GNC Holdings Inc (NYSE: GNC) shares shot up 25
percent to $5.26 following announcement of $300 million investment from Harbin Pharmaceuticals. GNC reported in-line quarterly
earnings.
Shares of WMIH Corp. (NASDAQ: WMIH) got a boost,
shooting up 53 percent to $1.22. The insurance company agreed to merge with Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc (NYSE:
NSM). Nationstar shareholders could chose to receive $18.00 in
cash or 12.7793 of WMIH common stock for each share owned. Nationstar shareholders will own around 36 percent of the combined
entity with WMIH shareholders owning the remaining 64 percent.
Chegg Inc (NYSE: CHGG) shares were also up, gaining
15 percent to $18.74 after reporting a fourth quarter earnings and sales beat and raising FY18 guidance.
Equities Trading DOWN
Dare Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ: DARE) shares dropped
40 percent to $1.68. Dare Bioscience priced 5 million common share and warrants to buy up to 3.5 million common shares at $3 per
share.
Shares of Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ: HMNY) were down 29 percent to $5.63 after the company reported pricing of its $105
million public offering.
Affimed NV (NASDAQ: AFMD) was down, falling around
12 percent to $2.15. Affimed priced its 11.5 million share public offering of common stock at 2.00 per share.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.89 percent to $58.76 while gold traded up 0.32 percent to $1,330.60.
Silver traded down 0.09 percent Tuesday to $16.555, while copper rose 2.32 percent to $3.158.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.36 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.02
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.04 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40
fell 0.25 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.26 percent.
Economics
The NFIB small business optimism index gained 2 points to a reading of 106.9 in January. However, economists were expecting a
reading of 105.5.
The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index dropped 1.1 percent during the first week of February versus January.
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