Mid-Day Market Update: Dycom Gains On Upbeat Results, CVR Partners Drops

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.70 percent to 15,494.86, while the NASDAQ rose 0.48 percent to 3,518.99. The S&P was also up, gaining 0.65 percent to 1,679.98. Top Headline
Target TGT reported a drop in its first-quarter profit. Target's quarterly profit declined to $498 million, or $0.77 per share, versus $697 million, or $1.04 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.05 per share. Its revenue dropped to $16.71 billion from $16.87 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.95 per share on revenue of $16.85 billion. Target cut its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to a range of $4.70 to $4.90 per share, versus a previous range of $4.85 to $5.05 per share. Interested in learning the fundamentals of investing? Benzinga's Marketfy has a great deal on Groupon that can help get you started! Equities Trading UP
Saks SKS shot up, gaining 14.05 percent to $15.59, after the New York Post reported that Saks has hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives including a sale. NPS Pharmaceuticals NPSP was also up 10.87 percent to $16.11, after the company priced 6 million share public offering of common stock at $14.53 per share. Dycom Industries DY got a boost, shooting up 10.68 percent to $22.59 on Q3 results Equities Trading DOWN
CVR Partners LP UAN was down, falling 6.87 percent to $24.55, after the company announced the pricing of secondary offering of common units by CVR Energy. DryShips DRYS shares tumbled 6.44 percent to $2.1050. DryShips is expected to report its Q1 earnings after the closing bell today. Target TGT was down 3.28 percent to $68.92 after the company reported a 29% drop in its first-quarter profit. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.25 percent to $94.98, while gold dropped 0.25 percent to $1,374.20. Silver traded up 0.24 percent Wednesday to $22.51, while copper rose 1.23 percent to $3.38. Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher on Wednesday. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.23 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index gained 0.56 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.62 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.37 percent while U.K. shares added 0.46 percent. Economics
The MBA index of mortgage application activity declined 9.8 percent in the week ended May 17. Existing-home sales increased 0.6% to an annual rate of 4.97 million in April. However, sales of existing homes jumped 9.7% y/y. Crude supplies declined 300,000 barrels for the week ended May 17. However, analysts were projecting a 1.2 million-barrel fall. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher is set to speak in Nacogdoches, Texas at 1:00 p.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.