Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Sequenom Plummets as ONEOK Rises on News That it Will Spin Off Natural Gas Unit

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.02 percent to 15,538.81 while the NASDAQ rose 0.63 percent to 3,602.45. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16 percent to 1,688.57. Top Headline
General Motors Co GM reported a better-than-expected Q2 profit. GM's quarterly earnings dropped to $1.2 billion, or $0.75 per share, from $1.5 billion, or $0.90 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, General Motors earned $0.84 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.76 per share. Its revenue increased 4% to $39.1 billion from $37.6 billion, versus estimates of $38.37 billion. Equities Trading UP
Facebook FB shot up 28.78 percent to $34.14 after the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. Shares of ONEOK OKE shot up on Thursday's session, gaining 23.07 percent to $52.70 after the company announced it would be spinning off its natural gas distribution unit into a separate public company. Boston Scientific BSX was also up, gaining 11.55 percent to $10.72 after the company posted a profit in the second quarter. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Crocs CROX were down 20.02 percent to $13.59 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results and issued weak forecast for the third quarter. PulteGroup PHM was down, falling 11.33 percent to $16.36 on downbeat Q2 results. Sequenom SQNM got crushed on Thursday's session, falling 30.92 percent to $3.24 following some weak results and a slew of analyst downgrades. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.08 percent to $107.00, while gold traded up 0.81 percent to $1,30.10. Silver traded up 0.07 percent Thursday to $20.19, while copper rose 0.06 percent to $3.18. Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The UK economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter versus the earlier three-month period. The German Ifo business confidence index surged to 106.2 in July, versus 105.9 in June. The Spanish unemployment rate declined to 26.26% in the second quarter from 27.16%. The Spanish Ibex Index surged 1.09 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.07 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.96 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.17 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.49 percent. Economics
US jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 343,000 in the recent week ended July 20, versus a revised 336,000 in the earlier week. However, economists were estimating claims to surged to 342,000. US durable-goods orders gained 4.2% in June. However, economists were estimating a 2.3% increase. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to -27.30 in the week ended July 21, versus a prior reading of -28.40. Natural-gas supplies rose 41 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 19, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a rise between 47 billion cubic feet and 51 billion cubic feet. The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 6.00, versus a prior reading of -5.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 0.00. The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes. Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.