Mid-Afternoon Market Update: America's Car-Mart Rises On Earnings Beat; Alexion Shares Drop

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.22 percent to 20,941.76 while the NASDAQ declined 0.02 percent to 6,132.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19 percent to 2,398.65.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities sector was the top gainer in the US market on Tuesday. Top gainers in the sector included TransAlta Corporation (USA) TAC, Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ADR) ELP, and Companhia de Saneamento Basico (ADR) SBS.

In trading on Tuesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.19 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Kirkland's, Inc. KIRK, down 10 percent, and AutoZone, Inc. AZO, down 9 percent.

Top Headline

AutoZone, Inc. AZO posted weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter on Tuesday.

AutoZone reported earnings of $11.44 per share in the quarter on revenue of $2.62 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $11.66 per share on revenue of $2.71 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Global Sources Ltd. (Bermuda) GSOL shares shot up 49 percent to $17.85 after the company disclosed that it has entered into definitive amalgamation agreement with Expo Holdings I Ltd. and Expo Holdings II Ltd.

Shares of Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc HMNY got a boost, shooting up 64 percent to $4.02 after the company reported a license agreement with IsItYou.

America's Car-Mart, Inc. CRMT shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $39.14 after the company posted upbeat Q4 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Spi Energy Co Ltd (ADR) SPI shares dropped 13 percent to $0.331 after the company reported the receipt of delinquency notice from the NASDAQ.

Shares of Kirkland's, Inc. KIRK were down 10 percent to $9.00 after the company posted a wider-than-expected loss for its first quarter. The company also announced the departure of its CFO.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALXN was down, falling around 9 percent to $105.10 after the company disclosed leadership changes. The company announced the resignation of CFO Dave Anderson. JPMorgan downgraded Alexion Pharmaceuticals from Overweight to Neutral.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.43 percent to $51.35 while gold traded down 0.40 percent to $1,256.30.

Silver traded down 0.27 percent Tuesday to $17.145, while copper rose 0.08 percent to $2.5975.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.22 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 1.14 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.46 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.31 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.47 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.15 percent.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 1.1 percent during the first three weeks of May versus April.

The flash reading of Markit manufacturing PMI declined to 52.50 for May, versus a prior reading of 52.80. Economists projected a reading of 53.00. The Markit services PMI rose to 54.00 for May, versus a previous reading of 53.10. Economists were expecting a reading of 53.10.

New home sales declined 11.4 percent to an annual rate of 569,000 in April. However, economists were expecting a 610,000 annual pace.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Minneapolis at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak in New York at 5:00 p.m. ET.