Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Tumbles 200 Points; Crude Oil Down Over 3%

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.16 percent to 17,720.43 while the NASDAQ declined 0.97 percent to 4,763.20. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.37 percent to 2,076.73.

On Wednesday, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Top gainers in the sector included

,

, and

. In trading on Wednesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by 2.2 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 29 percent, and

, down 18 percent.

reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but missed analysts' sales estimates. The company also lowered its forecast for the full year. Macy's reported adjusted earnings of $0.40 per share, beating analysts' expectations by $0.04 per share. The company's sales slipped to $5.771 billion, compared with sales of $6.232 billion in the same period of the preceding year. Analysts expected sales of $5.93 billion. Its comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis witnessed a fall of 5.6 percent in the first quarter. On an owned basis, its comparable sales fell 6.1 percent. Going forward, Macy's reduced its earnings guidance for the full year 2016 to $3.15 to $3.40 a share from $3.80 to $3.90 a share projected earlier for the same period. Analysts' expect the company to report earnings of $3.80 a share.

shares shot up 19 percent to $11.58 as the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $73.36 reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $17.45 as the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results and raised its full-year revenue forecast.

shares dropped 40 percent to $3.66 following announcement of termination of merger agreement with Staples. Shares of

were down 29 percent to $28.48 as the company reported downbeat results for its first quarter and issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter.

was down, falling around 18 percent to $8.48 following announcement of termination of merger agreement with Office Depot. Staples said in its press release the decision to terminate the proposed merger follows the recent ruling of a U.S. District Court of Columbia which granted the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to block its acquisition of Office Depot.

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.20 percent to $46.09 while gold traded up 1 percent to $1,277.40. Silver traded up 1.66 percent Wednesday to $17.38, while copper rose 0.33 percent to $2.10.

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 slipped 0.45 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 1.27 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.32 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX slipped 0.70 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.50 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.09 percent.

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 0.40 percent for the week ended May 6, 2016. The U.S. government reported a budget surplus of $106.4 billion in April, compared to a surplus of $156.7 million in the year-ago period, according to the Treasury Department. However, analysts were projecting a $112 billion surplus for April.