Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; McDonald's Earnings Beat Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.98 percent to 20,967.26 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.46 percent to 6,011.35. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.50 percent to 2,386.28.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday morning, the financial sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Lakeland Financial Corporation LKFN and German American Bancorp., Inc. GABC.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares slipped by 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Companhia de Saneamento Basico (ADR) SBS, down 3 percent, and Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais CEMIG-ADR CIG, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

McDonald's Corporation MCD reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday.

McDonald's said it earned $1.47 per share in the quarter on revenue of $5.68 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.33 per share on revenue of $5.51 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Nord Anglia Education Inc NORD shares shot up 18 percent to $32.50 after the company agreed to be acquired for $32.50 per share in cash.

Shares of LSB Industries, Inc. LXU got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $8.50. LSB Industries reported a Q1 loss of $0.48 per share on adjusted sales of $123.3 million.

Capricor Therapeutics Inc CAPR shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $3.41 after the company issued a 'positive' Phase I/II HOPE trial update.

Equities Trading DOWN

ContraVir Pharmaceuticals Inc CTRV shares dropped 31 percent to $0.820. ContraVir Pharmaceuticals priced its 12 million share offering at $1 per share.

Shares of NGL Energy Partners LP NGL were down around 22 percent to $17.00. NGL Energy Partners declared a quarterly distribution of $0.39 per unit and revised its fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2018 outlook.

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. HSII was down, falling around 14 percent to $23.10 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.26 percent to $49.10 while gold traded down 0.70 percent to $1,268.50.

Silver traded down 0.99 percent Tuesday to $17.755, while copper rose 1.19 percent to $2.5955.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.34 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.23 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.40 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.11 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.30 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.27 percent.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 1.2 percent during the first three weeks of April versus March.

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index rose 0.7 percent when seasonally adjusted for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.8 percent growth.

U.S. new home sales rose 5.8 percent to an annual rate of 621,000 for March. Economists were expecting a 583,000 rate.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index declined to 120.30 in April, versus a previous reading of 125.60. Economists projected a reading of 122.50.

The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index dropped to 20.00 in April, versus a prior reading of 22.00. However, economists expected a reading of 16.00.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.