Mid-Afternoon Market Update: US Stocks Turn Higher; Avis Budget Shares Drop On Weak Outlook

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.23 percent to 16,470.24 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.70 percent to 4,535.12. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.34 percent to 1,927.70.

On Wednesday, energy shares rose by 0.26 percent. Top gainers in the sector included

,

, and

. In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares dropped by 0.82 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 8 percent, and

, down 7 percent.

reported in-line earnings for its fourth quarter. However, the company's revenue exceeded analysts' estimates. Lowe's said it earned $0.59 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $13.2 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.59 per share on revenue of $13.1 billion. Comparable sales rose 5.2 percent in the quarter, while comparable sales for its U.S. home improvement business rose 5.5 percent. Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Lowe's expects to earn $4.00 per share for the full year which is three cents above Wall Street's expectations.

shares shot up 20 percent to $2.62 after the company reported a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 27 percent to $11.92 after the company reported stronger-than-expected Q4 results.

shares were also up, gaining 28 percent to $7.25 after the company reported upbeat Q4 results.

shares dropped 26 percent to $26.68. Advisory Board Company reported upbeat Q4 earnings, but the company missed analysts' sales estimates. Shares of

were down 20 percent to $4.04 on Q4 results. New York Mortgage Trust reported Q4 earnings of $0.01 per share.

was down, falling around 24 percent to $22.72 after the company reported downbeat quarterly revenue and issued a weak FY16 earnings outlook.

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.10 percent to $32.22, while gold traded up 0.68 percent to $1,230.90. Silver traded down 0.26 percent Wednesday to $15.24, while copper rose 0.38 percent to $2.12.

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dropped 2.30 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 3.07 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 2.59 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 2.64 percent, and the French CAC 40 declined 1.96 percent, while U.K. shares fell 1.60 percent.

The Markit flash services PMI dropped to 49.8 in February, versus a reading of 53.2 in January. Sales of new homes declined 9.2 percent to an annual rate of 494,000 in January.