Markets Rise; Bank Of America Q2 Profit Slips 43%

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Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.33 percent to 17,117.05 while the NASDAQ jumped 0.60 percent to 4,442.86. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.38 percent to 1,980.78.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.87 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Noranda Aluminum Holding (NYSE: NOR), up 4.6 percent, and Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF), up 3.4 percent.

Utilities shares dropped by 0.04 percent in the US market on Wednesday. Top losers in the sector included National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG), down 1.1 percent, and Atmos Energy (NYSE: ATO), off 0.7 percent.

Top Headline

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported a 43% drop in its second-quarter earnings.

The bank’s quarterly profit declined to $$2.29 billion, or $0.19 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $4.01 billion, or $0.32 per share. The latest quarter results included a litigation charge of $4 billion, or $0.22 per share.

Its revenue slipped 4% to $21.96 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.27 per share on revenue of $21.65 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) shares shot up 18.11 percent to $83.87 after the company confirmed that it rejected a proposal from Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company.

Shares of Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) got a boost, shooting up 6.72 percent to $33.84 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings. Analysts at UBS upgraded Intel from Neutral to Buy and raised the target price from $30 to $37.50.

HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA) shares were also up, gaining 7.73 percent to $59.48 after the company lifted its 2014 earnings forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Interactive Intelligence Group (NASDAQ: ININ) were down 15.29 percent to $42.34 as the company warned that Q2 results will be below expectations.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) shares tumbled 3.97 percent to $10.85 on Apple-IBM deal news.

Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) was down, falling 3.95 percent to $34.21 after the company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. The company announced it will reduce the number of shares being offered in the Alibaba IPO from 208 million shares to 140 million shares.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.87 percent to $100.83, while gold traded up 0.46 percent to $1,303.10.

Silver traded down 0.16 percent Wednesday to $20.86, while copper fell 0.14 percent to $3.25.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.28 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index jumped 1.79 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 2.49 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.36 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 1.35 percent while UK shares surged 1.09 percent.

Economics

Industrial production increased 0.2% in June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3% gain.

The producer price index gained 0.4% in June, versus a 0.2% drop in May. However, economists were expecting a 0.3% rise in the index.

The NAHB housing market index increased 4 points to 53 in July, versus a reading of 49 in June. However, economists were projecting a reading of 50.

The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Upgrades Eurozone Futures Price Target Commodities

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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