Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Flowers Foods Profit Misses Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.03 percent to 16,565.87 while the NASDAQ surged 0.03 percent to 4,402.67. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 1,936.77.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Tuesday, the financial sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Fortegra Financial FRF and LCNB LCNB.
In trading on Tuesday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.35 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Resolute Energy REN, down 5.9 percent, and Alpha Natural Resources ANR, off 3.3 percent.

Top Headline
Flowers Foods FLO reported downbeat second-quarter results.
The Thomasville, Georgia-based company posted quarterly net income of $42.1 million, or $0.20 per share, down from $46.5 million, or $0.22 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted profit declined to $45 million, or $0.21 per share, versus $50.1 million, or $0.24 per share.
Its sales slipped 2.3% to $877.4 million from $898.2 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.24 per share on revenue of $940.83 million.
Equities Trading UP
Intercept Pharmaceuticals ICPT shares shot up 29.88 percent to $308.06 following the release of the company's Q2 earnings report and business update. Leerink Swann upgraded Intercept from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $270.00 to $445.00.
Shares of Dealertrack Technologies TRAK got a boost, shooting up 12.97 percent to $44.15 on upbeat Q2 results.

INSYS Therapeutics INSY shares were also up, gaining 12.39 percent to $34.19 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Nuance Communications NUAN were down 10.66 percent to $16.17 after the company reported downbeat FQ3 revenue and issued a weak FQ4 forecast.
51job JOBS shares tumbled 5.49 percent to $36.15 on Q2 results.
Flowers Foods FLO was down, falling 4.65 percent to $19.08 after the company reported downbeat second-quarter results.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.77 percent to $97.32, while gold traded up 0.43 percent to $1,316.20.
Silver traded down 0.05 percent Tuesday to $20.09, while copper fell 0.03 percent to $3.17.

Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.59 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.73 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.65 percent and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.57 percent while UK shares declined 0.12 percent.

Economics
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased 0.7 points to 95.7 in July.
The ICSC-Goldman Store Sales Index fell 1.4% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week.
Job openings climbed to 4.67 million in June, versus 4.58 million in May, according to the US Department of Labor. The number of separations increased to 4.55 million in June versus 4.53 million in May.
The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills and 3-year notes.