Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NASDAQ Gains Over 1%; Amkor Technology Shares Surge On Strong Earnings Report

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.58 percent to 17,832.25 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.03 percent to 4,774.85. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.79 percent to 2,062.82.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Tuesday, technology shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.25 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Amkor Technology, Inc. AMKR, up 21.9 percent, and Micron Technology, Inc. MU, up 6.8 percent.

Energy shares fell by 1.18 percent on Tuesday. Top losers in the sector included Bill Barrett Corp. BBG, down 10.1 percent, and Swift Energy Co. SFY, off 11.9 percent.

Top Headline

The Coca-Cola Co. KO reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based company posted quarterly earnings of $770 million, or $0.17 per share, compared to $1.71 billion, or $0.38 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company earned $0.44 per share.

Its revenue dropped 2 percent to $10.9 billion, while revenue, excluding currency, gained 4 percent. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $10.76 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Qualys, Inc. QLYS shares shot up 13.75 percent to $46.47 after the company reported upbeat Q4 results and issued a strong outlook.

Shares of Amkor Technology, Inc. AMKR got a boost, shooting up 21.99 percent to $8.60 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. MLM shares were also up, gaining 11.20 percent to $132.50 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and authorized a new share repurchase program.

Equities Trading DOWN

Coupons.com Incorporated COUP shares tumbled 25.36 percent to $10.83 after the company reported a Q4 loss of $0.02 per share on sales of $60 million. The company issued a weak revenue forecast and announced a $50 million buyback plan.

Shares of Computer Sciences Corporation CSC were down 6.54 percent to $60.60 after the company reported downbeat Q3 sales. However, the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Dean Foods Company DF was down, falling 11.85 percent to $15.92 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.77 percent to $50.34, while gold traded down 0.81 percent to $1,231.40.

Silver traded down 1.26 percent Tuesday to $16.86, while copper fell 1.34 percent to $2.55.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The Eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.64 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 1.30 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.76 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.85 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.96 percent while UK shares fell 0.12 percent.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index gained 0.2 percent in the first week of February versus January.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index declined 2.5 points to 97.9 in January.

US wholesale inventories rose 0.10 percent in December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent growth.