Mid-Day Market Update: La-Z-Boy Drops On Q4 Results, Nektar Gains

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.05 percent to 15,309.86 while the NASDAQ declined 0.09 percent to 3,479.11. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.08 percent to 1,650.51.

FedEx

reported a drop in its fourth-quarter profit. FedEx's quarterly profit declined to $303 million, or $0.95 per share, versus $550 million, or $1.73 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $2.13 per share. Its revenue surged to $11.4 billion from $11 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.96 per share on revenue of $11.45 billion.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals

shot up 6.37 percent to $8.15 after analysts at JP Morgan initiated coverage on the stock with an “overweight” rating. Shares of Nektar Therapeutics

got a boost, shooting up 10.50 percent to $10.84 after the company presented positive data from Human Abuse Liability Study for NKTR-181. Intercept Pharmaceuticals

was also up, gaining 10.77 percent to $36.56 after the company pricing an underwritten public offering of 1,730,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $33.01 per share.

La-Z-Boy

was down, falling 4.59 percent to $19.35 after the company reported a drop in its fiscal fourth-quarter net income. Shares of Tetra Tech

were down 13.41 percent to $23.15 after the company projected to post a loss in the third quarter. Pool

shares tumbled 6.34 percent to $51.25 after the company lowered its full-year forecast.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.18 percent to $98.26, while gold traded up 0.50 percent to $1,373.70. Silver traded down 0.01 percent Wednesday to $21.68, while copper fell 0.82 percent to $3.14.

European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.14 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index declined 0.85 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.44 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.55 percent while U.K. shares dropped 0.44 percent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its index of mortgage application activity dropped 3.3 percent for the week ended June 14, 2013. US crude-oil supplies surged by 300,000 barrels to 394.1 million barrels for the week ended June 14, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, economists were expecting a 1 million-barrel fall in supplies. The FOMC will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference at 2:15 p.m. ET.