Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Fall Further, Isis Pharma Rallies

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.43 percent to 13,326.18 while the NASDAQ fell 0.26 percent to 3,090.18. The S&P also fell, decreasing 0.35 percent to 1,456.25.

Top Headline
Earnings season officially kicks off today with Alcoa's AA earnings after the closing bell. While the official start of earnings season is this week, things don't heat up until mid next week when the financial sector begins to report.

Equities Trading UP
Signet Jewelers SIG saw an 8.84 percent boost to $58.59 in early trading after the company announced a rise in its holiday sales figure this morning.

Shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals ISIS were also up, increasing 10.24 percent to $11.73

The Medicines Company MDCO was up as well, gaining 10.61 percent to $28.56 after the company announced positive results from its Phase 3 trial of cangrelor.

Equities Trading DOWN
Fusion-io FIO had a rough start to trading today, falling 9.67 percent to $19.15 after William Blair cut its rating on the company.

Cypress Semiconductor CY were down as well, losing 8.28 percent to $10.14 as the company warned that its fourth-quarter results may miss expectations.

Shares of Cincinnati Bell CBB dropped too, trading down 8.15 percent to $5.07 after the company IPO priced its CyrusOne unit.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.04 percent to $93.23, while gold traded up 0.81 percent to $1,659.40.

Silver traded up 0.32 percent Tuesday to $30.40.

Eurozone
In the eurozone this morning, markets were largely on the rise in the face of some poor data released early in trading. Leading the rally was the Italian MIB index, while the Spanish IBEX and German DAX fell slightly.

Economics
In economic news Tuesday, the NFIB small business optimism index came in at 88.0, slightly above the projected 87.2 and beating the prior figure of 87.5.