Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Strong U.S. Auto Sales Numbers Unable to Buoy Market as Indexes Go Red

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.81 percent to 15,879.09 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.46 percent to 4,026.29. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.58 percent to 1,790.86.

Top Headline
Yesterday, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts KKD reported a 34% rise in its Q3 profit. However, the company issued downbeat forecast for fiscal 2015.

Krispy Kreme's quarterly profit surged to $6.8 million, or $0.09 per share, from a year-earlier profit of around $5 million, or $0.07 per share. Excluding special items, it earned $0.16 per share.

Its revenue climbed 7% to $114.2 million from $107.1 million. However, analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of $0.15 per share on revenue of $114.1 million.

Equities Trading UP
OncoMed Pharmaceuticals OMED shot up 94.64 percent to $27.25 on a deal to sell 1.47 million shares to Celgene CELG at $15.13 per share.

Shares of Tesla Motors TSLA got a boost, shooting up 15.50 percent to $143.42 after the company announced that the German regulator has closed review of Model S incidents. Morgan Stanley also named the stock a Top Pick in the auto sector.

Abercrombie & Fitch ANF was also up, gaining 5.22 percent to $35.80 after Engaged Capital sent a letter to the company urging the board to start a search for a new CEO or to seek a sale of the company. Later in the day, the company's board said it was ‘committed to creating shareholder value' and that it welcomed input from shareholders.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts KKD were down 19.84 percent to $19.68 after the company issued downbeat forecast for fiscal 2015.

GT Advanced Technologies GTAT shares tumbled 6.44 percent to $9.30 after the company announced its plans to offer $125 million convertible senior notes and 12 million shares of common stock.

AMR Corporation AAMRQ, the parent company of American Airlines, traded down 6.35 percent to $10.90 on Tuesday's session after the auto industry posted strong sales growth numbers, possibly hinting at an increased willingness from consumers to pursue travel via automobile rather than air.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 2.32 percent to $96.00, while gold traded down 0.03 percent to $1,221.50.

Silver traded down 0.18 percent Tuesday to $19.13, while copper fell 0.52 percent to $3.17.

Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 1.44 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 1.95 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.90 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 2.65 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.95 percent.

Economics
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs store sales index declined 2.8% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 0.2% in the first four weeks of November versus October.

U.S. home prices climbed 0.2% in October, CoreLogic reported.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.