Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher, Monsanto Q3 Profit Falls 3%

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.80 percent to 14,877.66 while the NASDAQ gained 0.78 percent to 3,373.93. The S&P rose, surging 0.82 percent to 1,601.07.

Top Headline
Monsanto MON reported a 3% drop in its third-quarter net profit.

Monsanto's quarterly profit declined to $909 million, or $1.68 per share, versus $937 million, or $1.74 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $1.66 per share.

Its revenue dropped to $4.25 billion from $4.22 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.61 per share on revenue of $4.41 billion.

Equities Trading UP
Synaptics SYNA shot up 9.81 percent to $39.39 after the company lifted its Q4 revenue forecast.

Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group HIG got a boost, shooting up 3.91 percent to $30.32 after the company lifted its share buyback by $750 million and raised its dividend by 50%.

Lindsay LNN was also up, gaining 5.01 percent to $78.66 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Apollo Group APOL were down 8.31 percent to $17.77 after the company reported downbeat third-quarter revenue.

Mistras Group MG was down, falling 13.48 percent to $17.68 after the company lowered its profit forecast for the year.

First Cash Financial Services FCFS shares tumbled 10.33 percent to $49.50 after the company lowered its 2013 earnings view.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.26 percent to $95.07, while gold traded down 2.59 percent to $1,242.10.

Silver traded down 3.64 percent Wednesday to $18.84, while copper fell 0.46 percent to $3.06.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The German IFO Institute cut its 2013 growth forecast for Germany to 0.6 percent from 0.7 percent but is still above the government's forecast of 0.5 percent and the Bundesbank's forecast of 0.3 percent growth. France's economy contracted 0.2 percent in the first quarter, in line with estimates and the same from the prior reading. On an annualized basis, France's economy contracted 0.4 percent.

The Spanish Ibex Index rose 2.52 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index surged 1.75 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.48 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 2 percent while U.K. shares surged 0.81 percent.

Economics
The US economy grew 1.8% in the first quarter, versus a prior estimate of 2.4%. However, economists were projecting growth of 2.4% in the same period.

The MBA purchase applications index dropped 3% versus the earlier week.

The Treasury will auction 5-year notes.