Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; United Technologies Tops Q4 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.59 percent to 26,366.32 while the NASDAQ gained 0.27 percent to 7,480.31. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.42 percent to 2,851.00.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday morning, the basic materials sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Louisiana-Pacific Corporation LPX and Coeur Mining Inc CDE.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.28 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included AES Corp AES, down 3 percent, and FirstEnergy Corp. FE down 2 percent.

Top Headline

United Technologies Corporation UTX reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.

United Technologies earned $1.60 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $15.7 billion, while Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.56 per share on revenue of $15.4 billion.

United Technologies expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $6.85 to $7.10 per share, on sales of $62.5 billion to $64 billion.

Equities Trading UP

US Geothermal Inc HTM shares shot up 28 percent to $5.41. Ormat Technologies, Inc. ORA reported the purchase of US Geothermal for $5.45 per share in cash.

Shares of Cerus Corporation CERS got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $5.08 after the biomedical products company issued an encouraging update to its phase 3 trial called INTERCEPT. Cerus said primary efficacy and safety endpoints were successfully achieved in a chronically transfused patient population and supports the company's mark submission which is planned for the second half of 2018.

W W Grainger Inc GWW shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $261.89 after the company posted upbeat quarterly earnings and raised its FY18 earnings forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN

Puma Biotechnology Inc PBYI shares dropped 27 percent to $66.15. Puma Biotechnology could face a setback in the launch of its breast cancer drug neratinib, as the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, relayed a "negative trend vote" after a meeting with the biotech company. Cowen downgraded shares of Puma Biotech from Outperform to Market Perform and reduced the price target from $128 to $68.

Shares of Teekay Corporation TK were down 14 percent to $9.21. Teekay priced its 10 million share offering at $9.75 per share. The company also priced its offering of $125 million aggregate principal amount of 5.0 percent Convertible Senior Notes due 2023.

Sigma Designs Inc SIGM was down, falling around 14 percent to $6.00 after the company reported plan to sell Z-Wave unit for $240 million in cash.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.42 percent to $64.74 while gold traded up 1.18 percent to $1,357.50.

Silver traded up 2.47 percent Wednesday to $17.33, while copper rose 2.04 percent to $3.1745.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.03 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.04 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.04 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.12 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.56 percent.

Economics

The FHFA House Price Index rose 0.4 percent for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.

U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 55.50 for January, versu prior reading of 55.19. Economists expected a reading of 55.20.

Existing-home sales dropped 3.6 percent at an annual rate of 5.57 million in December. Economists projected a 5.73 million annual rate.

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.