Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.50 percent to 23,649.98 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.20 percent to
6,837.40. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.33 percent to 2,558.06.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Tuesday morning, the industrial shares climbed 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Union Pacific
Corporation (NYSE: UNP) up 9 percent, and AZZ
Inc (NYSE: AZZ) up 7 percent.
In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.1 percent.
Top Headline
Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ: HELE)
reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter, but lowered its full-year sales forecast.
Helen of Troy posted Q3 earnings of $2.40 per share on sales of $431.08 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of
$2.38 per share on sales of $425.76 million.
Helen of Troy now expects FY19 sales of $1.535 billion to $1.550 billion, versus prior forecast of $1.535 billion to $1.560
billion. However, the company raised its adjusted earnings forecast to $7.70 to $7.95 per share, versus previous outlook of $7.60
to $7.90.
Equities Trading UP
HopFed Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: HFBC)
shares got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $18.70. First Financial Corp (NASDAQ: THFF) and HopFed Bancorp signed a merger agreement.
Shares of Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXSM) shot up 27 percent to $8.75 on continued strength after the company on
Monday announced its Phase 2 trial of AXS-05 in major depressive order met its primary endpoint. Axsome Therapeutics raised $23.3
million under existing at-the-market facility.
Motorcar Parts of America, Inc. (NASDAQ: MPAA) shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $21.42 after the company beat Q2
sales estimates and reported year-over-year EPS growth.
Equities Trading DOWN
Maxar Technologies Ltd. (NYSE: MAXR)
shares dropped 32 percent to $5.47. Maxar Technologies dropped 31.48 percent on Monday after the company reported failure of its
WorldView-4 Satellite. Credit Suisse downgraded Maxar Technologies from Neutral to Underperform.
Shares of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG)
were down 11 percent to $16.85 after S&P Global lowered the rating on PG&E and its Pacific Power & Gas Co unit to "B" from
"BBB-" on announced board review.
First Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: THFF) was down, falling around 10 percent to $38.26. First Financial and HopFed
Bancorp signed a merger agreement.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 2.1 percent to $49.54 while gold traded down 0.6 percent to $1,282.00.
Silver traded down 0.6 percent Tuesday to $15.66, while copper rose 0.4 percent to $2.648.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 1.4 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.3 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.1 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.4 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.7 percent
while U.K. shares rose 1.15 percent.
Economics
The NFIB small business optimism index declined 0.4 point to a reading of 104.4 in December.
U.S. job openings dropped to 6.89 million in November from 7.13 million, according to the Labor Department's JOLTS report.
The Treasury is set to auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Data on consumer credit for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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