Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Goldman Sachs Tops Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.02 percent to 24,824.16 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.12 percent to 7,236.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.82 percent to 2,699.74.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the information technology shares climbed 1.31 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included IntriCon Corporation IIN, up 8 percent, and Cision Ltd. CISN, up 7 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, telecommunication services shares fell 0.08 percent.

Top Headline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS reported better-than-expected profit for its first quarter.

The bank said it earned $6.95 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $10.04 billion versus expectations of $5.58 per share on revenue of $8.74 billion.

Goldman Sachs increased its dividend from $0.75 per share to $0.80 per share.

Equities Trading UP

ChinaNet Online Holdings, Inc. CNET shares shot up 40 percent to $3.44 following Q4 results. ChinaNet Online reported a Q4 loss of $0.50 per share on revenue of $15.43 million.

Shares of KBS Fashion Group Limited KBSF got a boost, shooting up 20 percent to $6.29 after the company reported signing of a cooperative agreement to open Amazon and Alibaba Express online stores.

Netflix, Inc. NFLX shares were also up, gaining 7 percent to $330.425 after the company reported better-than-expected sales for its first quarter Net streaming additions came in at 7.41 million, also beating estimates by nearly 1 million. The company issued strong second-quarter guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. APLS shares dropped 17 percent to $24.95 after the company reported proposed offering of common stock.

Shares of Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. BLCM were down 13 percent to $7.81 after the company reported a 7 million-share common stock offering.

SeaChange International, Inc. SEAC was down, falling around 14 percent to $2.63 after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings and sales beat, but downbeat guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.06 percent to $66.26 while gold traded down 0.45 percent to $1,344.60.

Silver traded down 0.37 percent Tuesday to $16.615, while copper fell 1.03 percent to $3.0635.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.35 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.41 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.91 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.54 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.20 percent.

Economics

U.S. housing starts rose 1.9 percent to an annual pace of 1.32 million in March. Economists were expecting a 1.27 million rate.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.5 percent during the first week of April versus March.

U.S. industrial production rose 0.5 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak in Philadelphia at 11:00 a.m. ET.

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

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak in Chicago at 1:40 p.m. ET.