Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Falls Over 500 Points; Santander Consumer USA Shares Gain On Earnings Beat

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 2.13 percent to 23,928.97 while the NASDAQ declined 2.01 percent to 6,985.63. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.6 percent to 2,627.46.

Tuesday afternoon, the telecommunication services shares climbed 1.18 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 7 percent, and

, up 3 percent. In trading on Tuesday, industrial shares fell 2.85 percent.

reported upbeat results for its first quarter. The company said it earned 47 cents per share in the first quarter on revenue of $7.6 billion versus expectations of 46 cents per share and $7.3 billion.

shares shot up 18 percent to $32.705 as the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Monday. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 35 percent to $1.09. The pay-TV home shopping company was named as a potential acquisition target by TechCrunch. According to the publication,

is exploring ways of marketing its products and services to consumers beyond the internet.

shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $17.89 following upbeat quarterly earnings.

shares dropped 29 percent to $1.7992. Valeritas priced its 13.7 million share offering at $1.75 per share. Shares of

were down 14 percent to $76.53 as the company posted downbeat Q1 results.

was down, falling around 14 percent to $13.125. Epizyme announced Monday after the close that the FDA issued a partial clinical hold on the U.S. enrollment of new patients in tazemetostat clinical trials.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.28 percent to $68.45 while gold traded up 0.74 percent to $1,333.80. Silver traded up 0.82 percent Tuesday to $16.795, while copper rose 0.99 percent to $3.1625.

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.39 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.22 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.17 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.10 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.36 percent.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.3 percent during the first two weeks in April versus March. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index gained 6.8 percent year-over-year for February. Sales of newly-constructed homes rose 4 percent to an annual rate of 694,000 in March. The Conference Board's consumer sentiment index rose to 128.70 for April, versus prior reading of 127.70. Economists projected a reading of 126.00. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index declined to -3.00 in April, versus prior reading of 15.00.