Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Gains 180 Points; DSW Shares Drop On Earnings Miss

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.77 percent to 23,611.66 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.95 percent to 6,855.20. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.67 percent to 2,599.38.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday afternoon, 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, utilities shares rose by just 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG, down 28 percent, and DSW Inc. DSW down 12 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 49 percent to $3.18. 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 17 percent to $12.70 after the company posted strong quarterly earnings.

Cubic Corporation CUB shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $61.45. 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 27 percent to $8.12 on the back of negative trial results for its amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, treatment candidate tirasemtiv in a late-stage study. The results of the international Phase 3 study showed tiraemtive did not meet the primary endpoint of change from baseline in slow vital capacity, or SVS, evaluated at 24 weeks, as well the secondary endpoints evaluated at 48 weeks.

Shares of Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG were down 28 percent to $54.60 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 13 percent to $19.75 as the company posted weaker-than-expected Q3 earnings and lowered its earnings forecast for the year.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.57 percent to $56.74 while gold traded up 0.54 percent to $1,282.20.

Silver traded up 0.91 percent Tuesday to $17.095, while copper rose 1.06 percent to $3.1485.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.44 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.32 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.62 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.83 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.48 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.30 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.

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