Mid-Day Market Update: Akamai Technologies Surges On Earnings Beat; KapStone Paper and Packaging Shares Drop

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.24 percent to 16,053.14 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.40 percent to 4,328.43. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.76 percent to 1,866.22.

On Wednesday, healthcare shares rose by 1.71 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 11 percent, and

up 9 percent. In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares tumbled by 0.73 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 4 percent, and

, down 4 percent.

reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but the company missed analysts' revenue expectations. The company also issued a strong forecast for fiscal 2016. Time Warner earned $1.06 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $7.1 billion. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn $1.01 per share on revenue of $7.53 billion. Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Time Warner guided its earnings per share to a range of $5.30 to $5.40 - exceeding Wall Street's estimate of $5.26 per share.

shares shot up 82 percent to $3.15. Electromed reported Q2 net income of $1.07 million, or $0.13 per share, and revenue of $6.26 million. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 24 percent to $48.87 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and announced a $1 billion repurchase program.

shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $21.97 after the company posted upbeat Q4 results.

shares dropped 25 percent to $10.76 after the company reported weak Q4 results. Shares of

were down 21 percent to $16.49. SPX FLOW reported Q4 GAAP earnings of $0.51 per share. The company expects FY16 earnings of $0.75 to $1.05 per share and sales to drop 12 percent to 8 percent.

was down, falling around 26 percent to $19.49. SolarCity reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter, but the company issued a weak forecast for the first quarter.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.25 percent to $27.87, while gold traded down 0.63 percent to $1,191.00. Silver traded down 1.35 percent Wednesday to $15.24, while copper fell 0.96 percent to $2.02.

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 2.18 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 3.261 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 4.95 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.03 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 2.13 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.93 percent.

Crude inventories declined by 800,000 barrels for the week ended February 5, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Analysts were estimating a rise of 2.4 million barrels. Analysts polled by Platts expected a rise of 3.2 million. Gasoline supplies rose 1.3 million barrels, while distillate supplies gained 1.3 million barrels. The Treasury budget data for January will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.