Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Falls Over 300 Points; Callidus Software Shares Rise On Acquisition News

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 1.16 percent to 26,133.05 while the NASDAQ declined 0.70 percent to 7,414.49. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.89 percent to 2,828.10.

Tuesday afternoon, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.22 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 6 percent, and

, up 6 percent. In trading on Tuesday, energy shares tumbled 1.80 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 8 percent, and

down 11 percent.

reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. Pfizer posted adjusted earnings of $0.62 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $13.70 billion. However, Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.56 per share on revenue of $13.68 billion. Pfizer expects 2018 earnings of $2.90 to $3.00 per share, on sales of $53.5 billion to $55.5 billion. Analysts projected earnings of $2.78 per share on sales of $53.9 billion.

shares shot up 9 percent to $47.18 after the company confirmed advanced discussions with Blackstone regarding a potential partnership in Financial & Risk business. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $36.05.

announced plans to acquire Callidus Software for $36 per share.

shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $15.21. Extreme Networks will replace

in the S&P SmallCap 600 on Thursday, February 1.

shares dropped 16 percent to $90.01 after the company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. Shares of

were down 14 percent to $114.90 . Polaris posted in-line Q4 earnings, but issued weak sales forecast for FY 2018.

was down, falling around 9 percent to $63.00 after reporting preliminary FY17 sales of $341.5 million-$343.5 million. EPS is expected to come in at $1.54-$1.58. The company also announced a 4 million-share common stock offering.

In commodity news, oil traded down 2 percent to $64.25 while gold traded down 0.12 percent to $1,343.50. Silver traded up 0.13 percent Tuesday to $17.15, while copper fell 0.27 percent to $3.1855.

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 slipped 0.78 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.04 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.20 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.91 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.76 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.09 percent.

The Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day policy meeting today. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index rose 0.2 percent for November versus October. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 125.40 for January, versus prior reading of 123.10. Data on farm prices for December will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.