Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.22 percent to 25,358.57 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.34 percent to 7,405.91. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.13 percent to 2,740.45.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Tuesday, the financial shares climbed 1.7 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included OneMain Holdings Inc OMF 12.77% up 13 percent, and AGM Group Holdings Inc AGMH 19.26% up 21 percent.
In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares fell 0.8 percent.
Top Headline
US Foods Holding Corp USFD 4.17% reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded views.
US Foods earned $0.56 cents per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $6 billion. However, analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.59 per share on revenue of $5.97 billion.
US Foods Holding expects FY19 adjusted earnings of $2.15 to $2.25 per share and adjusted EBITDA growth of at least 5 percent.
Equities Trading UP
Ellie Mae Inc ELLI 20.99% shares got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $99.11 after the company announced it will be acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $99 per share.
Shares of Applied DNA Sciences Inc APDN 34.66% shot up 44 percent to $0.63 after the company signed a term sheet with TheraCann International for an exclusive license of CertainT platform for legal cannabis and Hemp.
CAS Medical Systems Inc CASM 53.98% shares were also up, gaining 54 percent to $2.42 after Edwards Lifesciences Corp EW 2.28% agreed to acquire the company for $2.45 per share in cash.
Equities Trading DOWN
Bristow Group Inc BRS 35.23% shares dropped 35 percent to $2.00 after the company terminated its planned acquisition of Columbia Helicopters and reported soft Q3 results. Bristow will pay a $20 million fee as a result of the merger termination.
Shares of Xeris Pharmaceuticals Inc XERS 16.51% were down 16 percent to $12.42 after reporting a 5 million share common stock offering.
Multi-Color Corporation LABL 13.64% was down, falling around 14 percent to $43.78 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results. The company also issued FY19 EPS guidance below analyst estimates.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.7 percent to $53.28 while gold traded up 0.1 percent to $1,313.10.
Silver traded down 0.1 percent Tuesday to $15.68, while copper fell 0.8 percent to $2.768.
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.55 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.77 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.32 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.2 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 1.1 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.08 percent.
Economics
The NFIB small business optimism index declined 3.2 points to a reading of 101.2 for January.
The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 1.8 percent during the first week of February versus January.
The labor market remained strong as 2018 ended, with job openings reaching a high of 7.3 million on the last business day of December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The 7.3 million openings was up from 5.7 million at the end of 2017.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak at Mississippi Valley State University at Itta Bena, Mississippi at 12:45 p.m. ET.
Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George will speak in Kansas City at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in Cincinnati, OH at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
AUD/USD: A tough barrier remains around 0.6800
AUD/USD failed to maintain the earlier surpass of the 0.6800 barrier, eventually succumbing to the late rebound in the Greenback following the Fed’s decision to lower its interest rates by 50 bps.
EUR/USD still targets the 2024 peaks around 1.1200
EUR/USD added to Tuesday’s losses after the post-FOMC rebound in the US Dollar prompted the pair to give away earlier gains to three-week highs in the 1.1185-1.1190 band.
Gold surrenders gains and drops to weekly lows near $2,550
Gold prices reverses the initial uptick to record highs around the $$2,600 per ounce troy, coming under renewed downside pressure and revisiting the $2,550 zone amidst the late recovery in the US Dollar.
Australian Unemployment Rate expected to hold steady at 4.2% in August
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the monthly employment report at 1:30 GMT on Thursday. The country is expected to have added 25K new positions in August, while the Unemployment Rate is foreseen to remain steady at 4.2%.
Ethereum could rally to $2,817 following Fed's 50 bps rate cut
Ethereum (ETH) is trading above $2,330 on Wednesday as the market is recovering following the Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points. Meanwhile, Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETF) recorded $15.1 million in outflows.
Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know
VERIFIED In this review, the FXStreet team provides an independent and thorough analysis based on direct testing and real experiences with Moneta Markets – an excellent broker for novice to intermediate forex traders who want to broaden their knowledge base.