Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Taser Drops on JP Morgan Downgrade; Markets Continue to Rally

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.54 percent to 14,855.19 while the NASDAQ surged 0.63 percent to 3,592.50. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.50 percent to 1,638.69.

Top Headline
Joy Global JOY reported a 5.3% fall in its fiscal third-quarter earnings. Joy Global's quarterly profit fell to $183.2 million, or $1.71 per share, from $193.5 million, or $1.81 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, its earnings declined to $1.70 per share from $1.87 per share.

Its sales declined 4.9% to $1.32 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.37 per share on revenue of $1.18 billion. Joy Global reported a 36% drop in its orders.

Equities Trading UP
Astex Pharmaceuticals ASTX shot up 26.09 percent to $6.90 after the company announced topline results of SGI-110 AML Phase 2 study.

Shares of Express EXPR got a boost, shooting up 7.32 percent to $21.25 after the company reported a 6.8% rise in its fiscal second-quarter profit and lifted its full-year earnings forecast.

Cirrus Logic CRUS was also up, gaining 10.44 percent to $22.63 after the company was upgraded by Feltl & Co. to a Buy rating, while increasing its price target to $26.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of AutoNavi Holdings AMAP were down 13.34 percent to $12.69 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results.

Joy Global JOY shares tumbled 2.42 percent to $50.07 on FQ3 results.

Taser International TASR dropped as well, falling 5.82 percent to $11.16 after the company was downgraded by J.P Morgan from Overweight to Neutral based on valuation concerns this morning.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.85 percent to $109.94, while gold traded up 0.21 percent to $1,418.11. Silver traded down 0.41 percent Wednesday to $24.37, while copper fell 0.63 percent to $3.31.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.01 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 1.02%. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 1.06 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.25 percent while U.K. shares dropped 0.20 percent.

Economics
Mortgage applications fell 2.5% for the week ending August 23, 2013, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The pending home sales index declined 1.3% in July.

Crude oil supplies rose 3 million barrels for the week ended August 23, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a drop of 250,000 barrels.