Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Tesla Posts Huge Rally As Markets Remain in the Green

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.08 percent to 15,464.34 while the NASDAQ surged 0.22 percent to 3,606.91. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.25 percent to 1,680.75. Top Headline
Bank of America BAC reported a rise in its second-quarter profit. Bank of America's quarterly profit surged to $4.01 billion, or $0.32 per share, versus $2.46 billion, or $0.19 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Its total revenue rose to $22.9 billion from $22.2 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.25 per share on revenue of $22.78 billion. Equities Trading UP
Energy XXI (Bermuda) EXXI shot up 14.72 percent to $27.99 after the company reported a 50% rise in its 2013 proved reserves. Shares of Tesla TSLA were also up, gaining 10.16 percent to $120.13 as the company's shares bounced off the $106 level following a strong drop on Tuesday's session United Rentals URI was also up, gaining 10.30 percent to $56.23 after the company reported a profit in the second quarter. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Mattel MAT were down 6.95 percent to $43.11 after the company reported a 24% drop in its second-quarter earnings. B2Gold BTG was down as well, falling 6.06 percent to $2.48 after the company announced the results of a drilling project this morning. Superior Energy Services SPN shares tumbled 0.96 percent to $26.75 after the company issued downbeat Q2 earnings forecast. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.43 percent to $106.46, while gold traded down 1.18 percent to $1,275.90. Silver traded down 3.32 percent Wednesday to $19.35, while copper fell 1.77 percent to $3.13. Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The number of people claiming unemployment in the U.K. in June fell much faster than expected, new data revealed. The British Claimant Count fell 21.2 thousand vs. the expected drop of 8 thousand while May's figure was revised lower to show a drop of 16.2 thousand from the previous estimate of 8.2 thousand. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.22 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index gained 1.04 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.64 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 0.55 percent while U.K. shares surged 0.33 percent. Economics
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its index of mortgage application activity dropped 2.6% in the recent week ended July 12. Construction on new homes declined 9.9% to an annual rate of 836,000 in June. However, economists were expecting an annual rate of 950,000 in June. Crude oil supplies dropped 6.9 million barrels for the week ended July 12, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a 2.5 million-barrel fall. The Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.