Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Remain Down; Oil Cautiously Rallying

Towards the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.39 percent to 12,882.93 while the NASDAQ fell 0.92 percent to 2,910.24. The S&P also fell, decreasing 0.63 percent to 1,385.75. Top Headline Green Mountain Coffee Roasters GMCR announced Thursday morning that it would be partnering with Luigi Lavazza to release its own cappuccino maker, putting the company in direct competition with Starbucks SBUX. The move came as a surprise after Starbucks had stated that the two companies were partners, not competitors, just a month or so earlier. Equities Trading UP InterMune ITMN traded up 18.01 percent to $9.63 following an earnings beat after the close Wednesday and an upgrade at Canaccord Genuity. Monster Worldwide MWW consolidated its gains, remaining up 13.66 percent to $6.49 after the company reported an earnings beat Thursday morning and was reported to be seeking the sale of ChinaHR as part of its restructuring. Shares of Sapient SAPE also remained up, trading at a gain of 15.15 percent, to $11.40 following a strong earnings beat after the close Wednesday. Equities Trading DOWN Universal Display PANL dropped 17.89 percent to $23.14 following a downgrade at Wedbush Securities. Shares of Aurizon Mines AZK fell steadily following a brief spike at the market opening, trading down 12.28 percent to $4.07 after reporting earnings Thursday morning. Genomic Health GHDX was also down, falling 15.09 percent to $27.02 despite an earnings beat after the close Wednesday. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 0.86 percent to $85.16, while gold traded up 1.11 percent to $1,737.30. Silver traded up 0.33 percent Thursday to $32.37. Eurozone In the eurozone, amid sweeping violent protests, Greece passed its latest round of austerity measures, securing a new round of bailout money for the ailing country. The ECB also made headlines, deciding to leave rates unchanged, despite hints from some economists that they may be coming down. Following the decision, ECB president Mario Draghi made some comments about the expected near future performance of the euro zone economy, and the message was bleak. Following in the footsteps of the ECB, the Bank of England also decided to hold rates flat. Economics In economic news, initial jobless claims were reported at 355 thousand, below the forecasted 370 thousand and the prior figure of 363 thousand, while continuing jobless claims came in at 3.127 million, better than the expected 3.253 million, and the previous report of 3.262 million. Trade balance was also reported, coming in at -41.5 billion, better than the expected -45 billion and the prior figure of -44.2 billion.