Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Drops Below $43; Linear Technology Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.21 percent to 18,454.74 while the NASDAQ gained 0.22 percent to 5,108.70. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04 percent to 2,167.58.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, basic materials shares climbed by 1.90 percent. Top gainers in the sector included Allegheny Technologies Incorporated ATI and Cliffs Natural Resources Inc CLF.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell by 0.58 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Middlesex Water Company MSEX, down 2 percent, and Genie Energy Ltd GNE, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Caterpillar Inc. CAT announced better-than-expected results for the second quarter. The company also provided an upbeat adjusted profit forecast for the current year.

Caterpillar reported $0.93 a share for the second quarter, down from $1.31 a share in the prior year quarter. Excluding special items, its earnings would have been $1.09 a share compared to $1.40 a share in the year-ago quarter. This was better than $0.96 a share predicted by the Street analysts.

The company's revenue dipped 16 percent to $10.3 billion from $12.3 billion in the corresponding period of the last year. However, this was ahead of the analysts expectations of $10.06 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Alimera Sciences Inc ALIM shares shot up 59 percent to $1.69 after the company reported preliminary Q2 revenue. Alimera Sciences announced preliminary revenue of $9.3 million to $9.5 million.

Shares of EXACT Sciences Corporation EXAS got a boost, shooting up 31 percent to $16.29 after the company announced upbeat Q2 results.

Linear Technology Corporation LLTC shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $62.51. Analog Devices, Inc. ADI is in advanced talks for purchase of Linear Tech, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc TKAI shares dropped 78 percent to $1.16 as the company reported that it is planning to discontinue the Phase 3 ARMOR3-SV trial of prostate cancer treatment.

Shares of CARDIOME PHARMA CORP CRME were down 43 percent to $3.01. Cardiome priced 10 million shares at $3 per share.

Seadrill Partners LLC SDLP was down, falling around 30 percent to $4.09 as the company announced plans to reduce the quarterly cash distribution to $0.10 per unit from $0.25 per unit.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.49 percent to $42.92 while gold traded up 0.03 percent to $1,327.60.

Silver traded up 0.24 percent Tuesday to $19.70, while copper rose 0.29 percent to $2.22.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.18 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.03 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.49 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.15 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.21 percent.

Economics

The Federal Open Market Committee begins two-day policy meeting today.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.5 percent during the first three weeks of July versus June.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index declined 0.1 percent for May.

The Markit Services PMI slipped to 50.90 in July, versus a prior reading of 51.40. However, economists were expecting a reading of 52.00.

Sales of new homes rose 3.5 percent to an annual rate of 592,000 in June. Economists were expecting a 560,000 pace.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index declined to 97.30 in July, versus a prior reading of 98.00. Economists were projecting a reading of 95.50.

The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index climbed to 10.00 for July, versus a previous reading of -7.00. Economists expected a reading of -4.00.