Mid-Afternoon Market Update: FuelCell Energy Hangs on to Gains as Canadian Solar Shares Fall on Poor Report

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.25 percent to 16,354.72 while the NASDAQ gained 0.03 percent to 4,353.13. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.09 percent to 1,872.16.

Wednesday morning, the financial sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from SouFun Holdings

and E-House (China) Holdings

. In trading on Wednesday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.67 percent. Among the energy stocks, Endeavour International

was down more than 22 percent, while TransGlobe Energy

tumbled around 6 percent.

Brown-Forman (NYSE:

) reported a

in its fiscal third-quarter profit and lifted its forecast for the year. Brown-Forman now expects full-year earnings of $2.95 to $3.05 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $2.80 to $3 per share. Brown-Forman's quarterly profit surged to $177 million, or $0.82 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $157 million, or $0.73 per share. Its net sales climbed 5% to $1.08 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.75 per share on sales of $1.07 billion.

FuelCell Energy

shot up 11.81 percent to $3.03 after jumping 24.88% on Tuesday. Shares of Gogo

were on the rise as well, gaining 11.33 percent to $24.12, despite little news on the name. AeroVironment

was also up, gaining 19.50 percent to $37.92 after the company

Q3 earnings.

Shares of XOMA

were down 27.54 percent to $6.84 after the company reported Q4 results and

on its gevokizumab development program. Credit Suisse downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral. The Chefs' Warehouse

shares tumbled 3.87 percent to $22.83 after the company reported Q4 results and issued a weak FY14 earnings outlook. Canadian Solar

was also falling, dropping 10.64 percent to $39.01 after the company missed on both top and bottom lines, while guiding lower in its fourth quarter report Wednesday morning.

In commodity news,

to $101.28, while gold traded up 0.01 percent to $1,338.00. Silver traded up 0.13 percent Wednesday to $21.20, while copper fell 0.40 percent to $3.20.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.87 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 1.38 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.49 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.11 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.71 percent.

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 9.40% in the week ended February 28. Private sector employers added 139,000 jobs in February, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc. However, economists were expecting an addition of 155,000 jobs in the month. The Markit PMI services index came in at 53.30 for February. The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 51.60 in February, versus a prior reading of 54.00. However, economists were expecting a reading of 53.50. Crude stockpiles climbed 1.4 million barrels for the week ended February 28, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a rise of 1.5 million barrels. Gasoline supplies slipped 1.6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles climbed by 1.4 million barrels. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.