Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Mixed as Twitter Rallies

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.02 percent to 16,672.97 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.05 percent to 4,235.67. The S&P rose, gaining 0.11 percent to 1,913.28.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.37 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pampa Energia SA

, up 2.9 percent, andKorea Electric Power

, up 1.9 percent. Basic materials sector was the top loser in the US market on Wednesday. Top decliners in the sector included Harmony Gold Mining Company

, down 4.9 percent, and Seabridge Gold

, off 4.6 percent.

Toll Brothers

in its fiscal second-quarter profit. Toll Brothers posted its quarterly profit of $65.2 million, or $0.35 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $24.7 million, or $0.14 per share. Its revenue climbed to $860.4 million versus $516 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.26 per share on revenue of $803 million. Homebuilding deliveries climbed 67% in dollars and 36% in units.

PetroLogistics LP

shares shot up 10.25 percent to $14.26 after Koch Industries announced its plans to buy PetroLogistics for $2.1 billion. Shares of Twitter

caught a bid as well, rising 9.87 percent to $33.51 following an interview where CEO Dick Costolo made some comments that got traders bullish. Magnum Hunter Resources

shares were also up, gaining 7.71 percent to $7.89 after the company raised $150 million in a private placement.

Shares of DSW

were 27.55 percent to $23.57 after the company reported

fiscal first-quarter results and lowered its full-year earnings forecast. 3D Systems

shares tumbled 11.55 percent to $50.10 after the company announced a secondary offering of 5.95 million shares. Allergan

was down as well, falling 5.31 percent to $156.26 after news broke that the company had received an unsolicited proposal from Valeant

.

In commodity news,

to $102.77, while gold traded down 0.58 percent to $1,258.50. Silver traded down 0.05 percent Wednesday to $19.07, while copper fell 0.22 percent to $3.17.

European shares

today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.05 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.40 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.85 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.02 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.04 percent while UK shares rose 0.09 percent.

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity fell 1.20% in the week ended May 23. The ICSC-Goldman's same-store sales index dropped 1.2% in the week ended Saturday versus the prior week. The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.7% in the first three weeks of May versus April.