Mid-Day Market Update: Stocks Turn Higher; Depomed Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.16 percent to 22,154.56 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.21 percent to 6,397.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19 percent to 2,485.72.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from MDC Partners Inc MDCA and Douglas Dynamics Inc PLOW.

In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.32 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO, down 6 percent, and James Hardie Industries plc (ADR) JHX, down 6 percent.

Top Headline

CVS Health Corp CVS reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

CVS Health reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $1.33 per share, on sales of $45.7 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.31 on revenue of $45.37 billion.

CVS Health narrowed its FY17 adjusted earnings guidance from $5.77-$5.93 per share, to $5.83-$5.93 per share.

Equities Trading UP

FibroGen Inc FGEN shares shot up 47 percent to $49.00 after the company posted a wider-than-expected Q2 loss and disclosed positive topline results from Phase 2 study of pamrevlumab in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Shares of Cutera, Inc. CUTR got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $32.90 as the company posted upbeat quarterly results and raised its FY17 outlook.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd KORS shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $44.57 as the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and issued a strong guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Atkore International Group Inc ATKR shares dropped 22 percent to $16.05. Atkore posted Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.44 per share on sales of $397.75 million. The company also lowered its FY earnings forecast.

Shares of Depomed Inc DEPO were down 26 percent to $6.80 after the company reported downbeat Q2 earnings and lowered its FY17 sales guidance. Janney Capital downgraded Depomed from Buy to Neutral.

Bioamber Inc BIOA was down, falling around 41 percent to $0.588. BioAmber reported a $11 million offering of common stock and warrants.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.26 percent to $49.26 while gold traded down 0.57 percent to $1,257.50.

Silver traded down 0.07 percent Tuesday to $16.24, while copper rose 0.40 percent to $2.9185.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.69 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.09 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.43 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.32 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.19 percent.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index increased 1.6 points to 105.2 in July. However, economists were expecting a reading of 103.2 for July.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.3 percent during the first week of August versus July.

U.S. job openings rose to 6.16 million for June, from 5.67 million in May, the Labor Department reported.

The Treasury will auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.