Mid-Day Market Update: Blackhawk Surges On News Of Acquisition By Silver Lake; Eiger Biopharmaceuticals Shares Slide

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.66 percent to 25,972.30 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.57 percent to 7,302.76. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.31 percent to 2,794.83.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the technology sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Avid Technology, Inc. AVID and LG Display Co Ltd. (ADR) LPL.

In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares fell 0.82 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (ADR) SQM, down 7 percent, and Aluminum Corp. of China Limited (ADR) ACH down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Citigroup Inc C reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Citigroup said it earned $1.28 per share in the quarter on revenue of $17.26 billion which exceeded Wall Street's expectations for $1.19 per share and $17.22 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc HAWK shares shot up 23 percent to $44.90 after the company agreed to be acquired by Silver Lake for $45.25 per share in cash.

Shares of Energizer Holdings Inc ENR got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $59.50. Spectrum Brands agreed to sell global battery and lighting business to Energizer Holdings for $2 billion in cash.

Spi Energy Co Ltd (ADR) SPI shares were also up, gaining 69 percent to $1.07after announcing establishment of Blockchain-based infrastructure application division

Equities Trading DOWN

Eiger Biopharmaceuticals Inc EIGR shares dropped 46 percent to $8.65. Eiger BioPharmaceuticals disclosed that its Phase 2 LIBERTY study in pulmonary arterial hypertension did not meet primary endpoint.

Shares of Digital Power Corp DPW were down 13 percent to $2.35 after the company disclosed that it has raised $5.8 million in Series A1 financing.

Ion Geophysical Corp IO was down, falling around 9 percent to $19.55 after the company issued an update on the WesternGeco litigation.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.14 percent to $64.21 while gold traded down 0.03 percent to $1,334.50.

Silver traded down 0.06 percent Tuesday to $17.13, while copper fell 0.82 percent to $3.192.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.17 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.17 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.06 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.55 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.09 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.29 percent.

Economics

The Empire State manufacturing index declined to 17.7 in January, compared to a revised reading of 19.6 in December.

The Treasury will auction 4-week bills at 1:00 p.m. ET.