Courtesy of Benzinga.
Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.65 percent to 16,368.05 while the NASDAQ jumped 0.60 percent to 4,058.49. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.49 percent to 1,851.91.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Cyclical consumer goods & services sector surged 0.61 percent, saw Ethan Allen Interiors (NYSE: ETH) as the top gainer. Meanwhile, other gainers in the sector included Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ: IEP), with shares up 3.9 percent, and The Dixie Group (NASDAQ: DXYN), with shares up 3.8 percent. In trading on Wednesday, technology shares gained by just 0.12 percent.
Top decliners in the sector included ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML), off 5 percent, and Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC), down 5.4 percent.
Top Headline
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported a net loss in the first quarter. Bank of America posted a quarterly net loss of $276 million, or $0.05 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.5 billion, or $0.10 per share. The results include a pretax litigation expense of $6 billion, or around $0.40 per share after tax. Its total net revenue slipped to $22.77 billion versus $23.41 billion, while revenue net of interest expense fell to $22.57 billion versus $23.20 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.05 per share on revenue of $22.32 billion.
Equities Trading UP
SodaStream International (NASDAQ: SODA) shares shot up 10.39 percent to $41.60. Calcalist reported that the company is in talks to sell its 10% to 16% stake to Pepsi, Dr. Pepper Snapple or Starbucks.
Shares of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) got a boost, shooting up 7.72 percent to $36.85 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Yahoo reported its adjusted earnings of $0.38 per share on revenue of $1.09 billion. However, analysts were estimating a profit of $0.37 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion. Wells Fargo upgraded Yahoo! from Market Perform to Outperform.
King Digital Entertainment plc (NYSE: KING) shares were also up, gaining 4.07 percent to $18.14 after the company and Tencent announced the launch of Candy Crush Saga in China.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) were down 5.14 percent to $80.76 after the company reported a rise in its first-quarter net profit and lowered its first-half forecast.
Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) shares tumbled 2.93 percent to $30.83 after the company reported a drop in first-quarter profit. Credit Suisse’s quarterly profit slipped to 859 milion Swiss francs ($975.47 million), from a year-earlier profit of 1.3 billion francs.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was down, falling 2.72 percent to $15.95 after the bank reported a net loss in the first quarter. Bank of America posted a quarterly net loss of $276 million, or $0.05 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.5 billion, or $0.10 per share.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.84 percent to $104.62, while gold traded up 0.26 percent to $1,303.70.
Silver traded up 0.75 percent Wednesday to $19.64, while copper rose 1.64 percent to $3.03.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today.
The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.31 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 2.48 percent.
Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.13 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.01 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.50 percent.
Economics
US housing starts gained 2.8% to an annual rate of 946,000 in March, versus an original estimate of a rate of 907,000 in February. However, economists were expecting a rate of 970,000.
The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity gained 4.30% in the week ended April 11.
US industrial production rose 0.70% in March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.50% gain.
The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Forex Global Econ #s Economics Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech
