Mid-Afternoon Market Update: MannKind Posts Huge Rally as Markets Plummet

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.72 percent to 15,276.86, while the NASDAQ fell 1.53 percent to 3,448.99. The S&P was also down, falling 1.14 percent to 1,650.98.

Target

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.

Saks

shot up, gaining 13.17 percent to $15.47, after the New York Post reported that Saks has hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives including a sale. NPS Pharmaceuticals

traded up sharply in the early session but settled down later in the day, remaining up 2.89 percent to $14.93, after the company priced 6 million share public offering of common stock at $14.53 per share. Shares of MannKind

were up as well, gaining a staggering 14.60 percent to $6.14 after the company was highlighted as a takeover target earlier in the session.

CVR Partners LP

was down, falling 8.95 percent to $24.00, after the company announced the pricing of secondary offering of common units by CVR Energy. DryShips

shares tumbled 8.89 percent to $2.05. DryShips is expected to report its Q1 earnings after the closing bell today. Target

was down 4.62 percent to $67.93 after the company reported a 29% drop in its first-quarter profit.

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.05 percent to $94.21, while gold dropped 1.35 percent to $1,359.20. Silver traded down 0.81 percent Wednesday to $22.26, while copper rose 0.55 percent to $3.36.

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.

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.