Mid-Day Market Update: Markets Shed Losses, Nuance Falls On Weak Results

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.04 percent to 14,812.87 while the NASDAQ gained 0.34 percent to 3,318.33. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.07 percent to 1,594.76. Index Technicals:
The S&P is stalling at its 1,556/1,597 highs, with 1,575 acting as support below. The Dow is also stalling, at the 14,850 level and 14,750 support below, while having 14,900 resistance higher. Next up, the NASDAQ is stalling as well at its 3,320 highs, with 3,275 forming as support below. Finally, the Russell is stalling just under its 945 resistance with 930 as support lower and 950 as resistance above. Top Headline
Pfizer PFE reported a 53% rise in its first-quarter earnings and lowered its 2013 forecast. For the year, Pfizer now expects earnings of $2.14 to $2.24 per share on revenue of $55.3 billion to $57.3 billion. The company had earlier expected earnings of $2.20 to $2.30 per share on revenue of $56.2 billion to $58.2 billion. Pfizer's quarterly profit surged to $2.75 billion, or $0.38 per share, from $1.79 billion, or $0.24 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, its adjusted earnings from continuing operations came in at $0.54 per share. Its revenue fell 9.3% to $13.5 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.55 per share on revenue of $13.99 billion. Equities Trading UP
Multimedia Games MGAM shot up 18.98 percent to $24.01 on FQ2 results. Shares of Meritor MTOR got a boost, shooting up 24.63 percent to $5.92 after the company reported upbeat Q2 earnings. Best Buy Co BBY was also up, gaining 8.97 percent to $26.37 after the company announced its plans to sell its stake in its European joint venture. Equities Trading DOWN
Nuance Communications NUAN was down, falling 18.07 percent to $19.09 on weak Q2 results. Shares of Pitney Bowes PBI were down 16.36 percent to $13.55 on Q1 results. U.S. Silica Holdings SLCA shares tumbled 7.69 percent to $19.57 on Q1 results. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.04 percent to $93.52, while gold traded down 0.03 percent to $1,466.90. Silver traded down 0.01 percent Tuesday to $24.17, while copper fell 1.13 percent to $3.19. Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Eurozone Unemployment Rate rose to 12.1 percent in March, in line with expectations and higher than February's reading of 12.0 percent. Eurozone April CPI fell to a 1.3 percent annualized rate from 1.8 percent in March, well below the expected 1.8 percent rate, raising hopes that the ECB will cut rates as it has only a price stability mandate. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.38 percent while the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.96 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.51 percent and the French CAC dropped 0.31 percent and U.K. shares declined 0.43 percent. Economics
The employment cost index increased 0.3% in the first quarter, versus economists' estimates of a 0.5% rise. The ICSC/Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index rose 0.4% in the week ended Saturday versus the week earlier. The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index surged 0.3% in February and rose 9.3% y/y. National chain store sales for the first three weeks of April dropped 2.5% versus March, according to Redbook Research's latest indicator. Chicago PMI declined to 49.0 in April, versus 52.4 in March. However, economists were expecting a 52.5 reading. The consumer confidence index surged to 68.1 in April, versus a revised 61.9 in March. However, economists were expecting a reading of 61.3. The expectations index increased to 73.3, versus 63.7 in March. The FOMC meeting begins Tuesday. Data on farm prices will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.