Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Lowe's Tops Q3 Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.67 percent to 23,587.39 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.94 percent to 6,854.52. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.65 percent to 2,598.87.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the technology sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Cray Inc. CRAY and Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. MLNX.

In trading on Tuesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by just 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG, down 25 percent, and DSW Inc. DSW down 10 percent.

Top Headline

Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Lowe's reported Q3 earnings of $1.05 per share on revenue of $16.77 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.03 per share on sales of $16.59 billion. Its comparable sales gained 5.7 percent during the quarter.

The company named Richard D. Maltsbarger as Chief Operating Officer.

Equities Trading UP

Celsion Corporation CLSN shares shot up 68 percent to $3.60. Oppenheimer analyst Hartaj Singh initiated coverage on the company with an Outperform rating and $9 price target.

Shares of Cheetah Mobile Inc (ADR) CMCM got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $12.76 after the company posted strong quarterly earnings.

Cubic Corporation CUB shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $62.15. Cubic reported Q4 net income of $13.2 million, after posting a loss in the year-ago period. Cubic also disclosed that it has been selected for contract from Boston MBTA to deliver next-generation fare payment system.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cytokinetics, Inc. CYTK shares dropped 32 percent to $7.53 after the company disclosed that its Phase 3 clinical trial of tirasemtiv in patients with ALS did not meet primary or secondary endpoints.

Shares of Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG were down 26 percent to $56.39 after the company reported a Q3 GAAP loss of $0.20 per share and lowered its FY 2018 earnings guidance.

DSW Inc. DSW was down, falling around 11 percent to $20.10 as the company posted weaker-than-expected Q3 earnings and lowered its earnings forecast for the year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.04 percent to $56.44 while gold traded up 0.20 percent to $1,277.90.

Silver traded up 0.64 percent Tuesday to $16.95, while copper rose 0.24 percent to $3.123.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.53 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.35 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.87 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.83 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.72 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.33 percent.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index increased to 0.65 in October, versus a reading of 0.36 in September.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.7 percent during the first three weeks of November versus October.

Existing-home sales rose 2 percent at an annual rate of 5.48 million in October. Economists projected a 5.42 million pace.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to speak in New York at 6:00 p.m. ET.