Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Falls Over 4%; Apollo Education Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.30 percent to 16,349.74 while the NASDAQ declined 0.25 percent to 4,626.35. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.33 percent to 1,917.38.

On Tuesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares slipped by just 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 7 percent, and

, up 11 percent. In trading on Tuesday, energy shares tumbled by 2.41 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 19 percent, and

, down 16 percent.

reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter on Monday. The company posted a quarterly loss of $500 million, or $0.39 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $159 million, or $0.11 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $0.04 per share. Its sales declined 18 percent to $5.2 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.02 per share on sales of 5.3 billion.

shares shot up 23 percent to $8.63 after the company reported a Dutch auction to sell $50 million of stock between $9 and $10. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $26.92 after the company issued a strong Q2 forecast.

shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $7.43.

is in advanced talks to acquire Apollo Education, according to sources as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

shares dropped 34 percent to $3.01 after the company announced Monday afternoon its fourth-quarter sales are now expected to be flat on a year-over-year basis. The company also lowered its Q4 earnings forecast. Shares of

were down 35 percent to $26.52 after the company provided a corporate update. The company reported preliminary Q4 revenue of $68 million.

was down, falling around 11 percent to $18.49. Natural Health Trends expects Q4 revenue of around $73.6 million.

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.43 percent to $30.02, while gold traded down 0.87 percent to $1,086.70. Silver traded down 0.62 percent Tuesday to $13.78, while copper fell 0.76 percent to $1.96.

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.88 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.33 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.08 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX jumped 1.63 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.53 percent, while U.K. shares gained 0.98 percent.

There were no major US economic releases Tuesday.