Market Wrap for Wednesday, October 9: Yellen Nominated, Markets Closed Mixed

At the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow closed up 0.18 percent to 14,802.98 while the NASDAQ declined 0.46 percent to 3,677.78. The S&P also closed up 0.06 percent to 1,656.40.

Top Headline

President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Ruby Tuesday, Inc. RT reported Q1 EPS of $(0.36) versus the estimated $(0.05), missing by $0.31. EPS were Down 820% from the same quarter last year. Revenue came in at $289.70M versus the estimated $298.59M. Sales were Down 13% year over year.

Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO) reported a rise in its fourth-quarter profit. Family Dollar's quarterly profit surged to $102.2 million, or $0.88 per share, versus $80.9 million, or $0.69 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding special items, it earned $0.86 per share. Its revenue climbed to $2.50 billion from $2.36 billion, while comparable-store sales came in flat.

However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.83 per share on revenue of $2.57 billion. Family Dollar estimates 2014 earnings of $3.80 to $4.15 per share.

Shares of Family Dollar closed down 1.43 percent at $68.46.

Equities Trading UP

The Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) closed up 27.81 percent to $45.25 after Jos. A. Bank Clothiers offered to acquire Men's Wearhouse for around $2.3 billion. However, Men's Wearhouse decided to reject the offer.

Shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) closed up as well, gaining 7.26 percent to $49.81 after a Wall Street Journal report showed that Barrington was pushing for a breakup of the company after taking a 2.8 percent actavist stake.

Alcoa (NYSE: AA) also closed up 1.89 percent to $8.09 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) closed down 66.22 percent to $5.78 after the company reported that it is pausing patient enrollment in studies of Iclusig.

K12 (NYSE: LRN) shares tumbled 38.44 percent to $17.61 on lower outlook. BMO Capital downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

Pretium Resources (NYSE: PVG) also closed down 30.81 percent to $4.68 after a contractor for the company resigned from a major project.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.01 percent to $101.41, while gold traded down 1.37 percent to $1,306.00. Silver traded down 2.22 percent Wednesday to $21.83, while copper fell 1.58 percent to $3.23.

Eurozone

European shares were mixed today.The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.22 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.98 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.31 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.27 percent while U.K. shares dropped 0.57 percent.

Economics

The MBA's index of mortgage application activity rose 1.30% for the week ended October 4, versus a prior reading of 0.40% drop. Crude stockpiles climbed 6.8 million barrels for the week ended October 4, the US Energy Information Administration reported.

However, analysts were expecting a rise of 2.2 million barrels. The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes. The Federal Open Market Committee was expected to release minutes of its latest meeting at 2:30 p.m. ET.