Mid-Afternoon Market Update: FOMC To End QE In October; The Container Store Shares Slide

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.41 percent to 16,971.72 while the NASDAQ surged 0.60 percent to 4,417.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.41 percent to 1,971.72.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, the telecommunications services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Internet Gold Golden Lines IGLD and NQ Mobile NQ.

Utilities shares fell around 0.23 percent in trading on Wednesday. Top losers in the sector included Vectren VVC, down 1.47 percent, and Atmos Energy ATO, off 0.80 percent.

Top Headline

FOMC Minutes were released at 2PM EDT today.  The Members believe investors were "too complacent on risks" and stated that QE will end with a $15BN reduction in monthly purchases come Oct. 2014 if the current outlook on the economy holds.  Most Members also saw broadly balanced jobs, growth, and inflation risks.

Equities Trading UP

AeroVironment AVAV shares shot up 12.76 percent to $34.91 after the company reported upbeat fiscal fourth-quarter results. AeroVironment reported its quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share on revenue of $73.5 million.

Shares of Alcoa AA got a boost, shooting up 6.03 percent to $15.75 after the company reported stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results. Alcoa posted its adjusted earnings of $0.18 per share on revenue of $5.85 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of $5.63 billion.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals LXRX shares were also up, gaining 6.05 percent to $1.66. Lexicon and JDRF have collaborated for Phase 2 clinical trial of LX4211 in Type 1 Diabetes.

Equities Trading DOWN

Shares of The Container Store Group TCS were down 9.38 percent to $24.53 after the company reported a wider-than-expected fiscal first-quarter loss and issued a downbeat forecast for full year 2014.

Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP shares tumbled 3.01 percent to $133.15 after the company agreed to merge with a unit of Cosmo Pharmaceuticals SpA.

MSC Industrial Direct Co MSM was down, falling 4.79 percent to $88.91 after the company reported Q3 earnings of $1.06 per share on revenue of $720.50 million. The company also issued a weak Q4 earnings outlook.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.20 percent to $102.16, while gold traded up 0.68 percent to $1,326.00.

Silver traded up 0.63 percent Wednesday to $21.26, while copper fell 0.21 percent to $3.25.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.08 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.49 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.79 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 1.18  percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.42 percent while UK shares tumbled 0.34 percent.

Economics

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity gained 1.9% in the week ended July 4.

Crude stockpiles declined 2.4 million barrels for the week ended July 4, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a drop of 3 million barrels. Gasoline supplies climbed 600,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 200,000 barrels.