Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Fuel Cell Companies Reverse Sharply on Citron Research Report

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.36 percent to 16,360.34 while the NASDAQ tumbled 0.62 percent to 4,307.24. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.49 percent to 1,868.74.

Tech stocks gained by 0.07 percent in Tuesday's trading. Top gainers in the sector included Vitesse Semiconductor

, with shares up 2.7 percent and Fusion-io

, with shares up 4.2 percent. In trading on Tuesday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.68 percent. Among the sector stocks, Tesco

was down more than 6.9 percent, while Linn Energy LLC

tumbled around 3.6 percent.

American Eagle Outfitters

reported a drop in its

and issued a weak profit outlook. American Eagle's quarterly profit declined to $10.5 million, or $0.05 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $94.8 million, or $0.47 per share. Its sales slipped 7% to $1.04 billion versus $1.12 billion, while comparable sales dropped 7%. Excluding special items, its adjusted profit came in at $0.27 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $0.26 per share. American Eagle expects Q1 per-share earnings to break even, versus analysts' estimates of $0.13 per share.

Boyd Gaming

shot up 16.27 percent to $13.72 after hedge fund Elliot Associates disclosed a 4.99% stake in the company. Zogenix

was also up, gaining 11.58 percent to $4.53 despite little news on the name. The Men's Wearhouse

was also up, gaining 4.42 percent to $57.00 after the company announced its

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers

for $65.00 per share in cash, or $1.8 billion in total.

Shares of Myriad Genetics

were down 9.40 percent to $34.20as the company failed to block Ambry Genetics. US Court denied the company's motion to block competitor genetic tests. Urban Outfitters

shares tumbled 4.97 percent to $35.65 after the company

results. Nomura cut the price target on the stock from $42.00 to $39.00. Plug Power

had a wildly volatile session Tuesday, beginning the day up over 20 percent, before turning back and falling into the red, trading down a staggering 35.5 percent to $6.68 after Citron Research came out with a scathing report on the company midway through the session.

In commodity news,

to $99.73, while gold traded up 0.41 percent to $1,347.30. Silver traded down 0.02 percent Tuesday to $20.81, while copper fell 2.69 percent to $2.95.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.02 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.90 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.80 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.15 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.05 percent.

The ICSC-Goldman same-store sales index rose 1.3% in the week ended Saturday. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell 2.7 points to 91.4 in February. The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index gained 2.5% y/y in the first week of March. US wholesale inventories rose 0.60% in January, versus economists' expectations for a 0.40% gain. US wholesale sales declined 1.9% in the month. Job openings increased 3.97 million in January, from 3.91 million in December, according to the US Department of Labor. However, economists were expecting a rise of 4.01 million.