Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; Valeant Earnings Miss Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.35 percent to 17,982.82 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.03 percent to 4,970.14. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.20 percent to 2,113.71. Leading and Lagging Sectors Tuesday morning, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Pacific Drilling SA PACD and Baytex Energy Corp (USA) BTE. In trading on Tuesday, healthcare shares fell by 0.68 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX, down 21 percent, and Biogen Inc BIIB, down 11 percent. Top Headline Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the first quarter and reduced its full year adjusted earnings outlook. Valeant posted a net loss of $373.7 million, or a loss of $1.08 per share in the first quarter of 2016 compared to net income of $97.7 million, or $0.28 per share in the first quarter of 2015. Excluding adjustments, it would have reported earnings of $1.27 per share, down sharply from 2.05 per share in the year-ago quarter. Street analysts expected the company to report earnings of $1.37 a share. The company delivered total revenue of $2.4 billion for the first quarter representing an increase of 9 percent over the previous year quarter. Street predicted $2.38 billion. Equities Trading UP China Auto Logistics Inc CALI shares shot up 172 percent to $2.86 after the company reported that it has sold Zhonghe to Wuxi Huitong Automobile Sales and Service Co., Ltd. (Huitong) for around $62.3 million. Shares of Aehr Test Systems AEHR got a boost, shooting up 91 percent to $2.04 as the company reported that it has received order totals over $4.5 million for its FOX-XP production test cell. LDR Holding Corp LDRH shares were also up, gaining 63 percent to $36.89 as the company agreed to be acquired by Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc ZBH for $37 per share. Equities Trading DOWN DryShips Inc. DRYS shares dropped 42 percent to $1.37 after the company announced that it has breached some financial covenants. The company also said that it has yet to make final balloon installments on three matured banking facilities and three lenders have declared event a default. Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX were down 21 percent to $22.86 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the first quarter and reduced its full year adjusted earnings outlook. Vascular Biogenics Ltd VBLT was down, falling around 16 percent to $5.78 after surging 72.54 percent on Monday. The company reported a $24 million registered direct offering. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.60 percent to $49.99 while gold traded down 0.42 percent to $1,242.20. Silver traded down 0.65 percent Tuesday to $16.34, while copper fell 2.83 percent to $2.06. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.91 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.57 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.40 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 1.41 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.92 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.10 percent. Economics U.S. nonfarm productivity declined 0.6 percent in the first quarter, versus a prior reading of 1 percent drop. Unit-labor costs increased 4.5 percent in the quarter, versus a prior reading of 4.1 percent growth. Data on consumer credit for April will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.