Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Pandora Rises on Cowen Note While Talk of a Suspended Dividend Hits Walter Energy

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.088 percent to 14,920.10 while the NASDAQ gained 0.94 percent to 3,379.10. The S&P rose, surging 0.98 percent to 1,603.43.

Monsanto

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.

Synaptics

gapped up in early trading before giving up some ground, but remained up 7.25 percent at $38.49 after the company lifted its Q4 revenue forecast. Shares of Raptor Pharmaceuticals

got a boost, shooting up 28.96 percent to $10.39 after the company's PROCYSBI(TM) received U.S. orphan drug exclusivity. Pandora

was also up, gaining 8.16 percent to $17.74 following an upgrade at Cowen and Company this morning to an Outperform rating and a $22 price target.

Shares of Apollo Group

were down 9.24 percent to $17.59 after the company reported downbeat third-quarter revenue. Mistras Group

was down, falling 17.12 percent to $16.90 after the company lowered its profit forecast for the year. Walter Energy

was down as well, dropping 11.59 percent to $10.03 after Nomura came out with a note saying it expects the company to suspend its dividend.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.18 percent to $95.49, while gold traded down 3.81 percent to $1,226.40. Silver traded down 5.14 percent Wednesday to $18.59, while copper fell 0.93 percent to $3.05.

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 2.83 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index surged 2.03 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.66 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 2.09 percent while U.K. shares surged 1 percent.

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. US crude-oil supplies remained unchanged at 394.1 million barrels for the week ended June 21, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting for a 2 million-barrel drop. The Treasury will auction 5-year notes.