Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Dip as SunEdison Continues to Rally

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded flat at 16,180.21 while the NASDAQ dropped 0.06 percent to 4,285.27. The S&P also fell, losing 0.12 percent to 1,842.83.

Cyclical consumer goods & services stocks gained 1.05 percent Wednesday, with JAKKS Pacific

leading advancers after the company reported Q4 results. Meanwhile, top gainers in energy sector included Abercrombie & Fitch Co

, with shares up 9.4 percent, and Carter's

, with shares up 9.3 percent. In trading on Wednesday, telecommunications services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.35 percent. Among the sector stocks,DigitalGlobe

was down more than 26.2 percent, while United States Cellular

tumbled around 8.6 percent.

Lowe's Companies

reported a

in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit and announced an additional $5 billion stock buyback program. For the new fiscal year, the company projects earnings of $2.60 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $2.64 per share. It also projects total sales to rise 5% for the same period. Lowe's posted a quarterly profit of $306 million, or $0.29 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $288 million, or $0.26 per share. Excluding special items, it earned $0.31 per share. Its net sales climbed 5.6% to $11.66 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.31 per share on sales of $11.67 billion.

SunEdison

gained 8.92 percent to $18.50 after the company's analyst day impressed the street. Shares of ExamWorks Group

got a boost, shooting up 17.06 percent to $35.81 after the company reported upbeat Q4 results and issued a strong revenue outlook. Abercrombie & Fitch Co

was also up, gaining 11.34 percent to $40.00 after the company reported

Q4 earnings.

Shares of UTi Worldwide

were down 26.61 percent to $11.21 as the company issued a preliminary loss of $0.33 to $0.38 per share on sales of $1.05 to $1.1 billion for the fourth quarter. First Solar

shares tumbled 9.56 percent to $52.49 after the company reported

fourth-quarter results. Clean Harbors

was also down, falling 14.72 percent to $46.00 after the company missed on the top and bottom lines while lowering its guidance for the fiscal year 2013.

In commodity news,

to $102.57, while gold traded down 1.04 percent to $1,328.80. Silver traded down 2.87 percent Wednesday to $ 21.23, while copper fell 1.04 percent to $3.19.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.18 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.37 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.39 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.40 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.46 percent.

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity declined 8.5% in the week ended February 21. Sales of new homes climbed 9.6% in January to an annual rate of 468,000 in January. However, economists were projecting a sales rate of 400,000 in the month. Crude stockpiles climbed 100,000 barrels for the week ended February 21, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a gain of 1.5 million barrels.