Acuity Surges On Upbeat Results, Linn Energy Falls

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.37 percent to 15,030.12 while the NASDAQ surged 0.45 percent to 3,450.07. The S&P rose, gaining 0.47 percent to 1,622.56.

Top Headline
Constellation Brands (STZ) reported a drop in its first-quarter profit.

Constellation's quarterly profit declined to $52.9 million, or $0.27 per share, versus $72.0 million, or $0.38 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.38 per share.

Its revenue surged to $673.4 million from $634.8 million. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.40 per share on revenue of $673.0 million. Constellation now expects 2014 full-year earnings of $2.32 to $2.62 per share.

Equities Trading UP
American Greetings (AM) shot up 4.86 percent to $18.98 after the company's founding family lifted its offer price to take the company private.

Shares of Acuity Brands (AYI) got a boost, shooting up 7.90 percent to $81.93 on upbeat FQ3 results.

Zynga (ZNGA) was also up, gaining 8.79 percent to $3.34 after the company named former Microsoft (MSFT) executive Don Mattrick as its new chief executive officer.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Linn Energy LLC (LINE) were down 13.60 percent to $28.76 on JP Morgan downgrade and announcement of informal SEC inquiry.

The Greenbrier Companies (GBX) was down, falling 5.49 percent to $22.40 on FQ3 results.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) shares tumbled 24.40 percent to $6.32 after an FDA study on the company's drug Sovarprevir was placed on hold.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.99 percent to $98.96, while gold traded down 0.53 percent to $1,249.10.

Silver traded down 0.81 percent Tuesday to $19.42, while copper fell 0.24 percent to $3.15.

Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The U.K. Construction PMI rose slightly less than expected in June to 51.0 vs. the forecast of 51.1 but rose from May's 50.8. Yesterday, the more broad Manufacturing PMI gained to a strong 52.5 from an upwardly revised May figure of 51.5 on expectations of a reading of 51.5.

The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.28 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.73 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX tumbled 0.98 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.66 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.15 percent.

Economics
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs store sales index rose 0.6% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 0.5% in the first four weeks of June versus May.

US factory orders surged 2.10% in May. However, economists were projecting orders to gain 2% in May.

New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Governor Jeremy Stein are expected to speak.

BY Jake L'Ecuyer