Benzinga Mid-Afternoon Market Update

Towards the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.81 percent to 13,533.03 while the NASDAQ rose 1.06 percent to 3,096.51. The S&P also rose, increasing 0.86 percent to 1,452.50. As a heads up for this week, pharmaceutical stocks are set to be even more volatile than normal leading up to an FDA panel meeting on drugs from three pharmaceutical companies: NPS Pharmaceuticals

, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals

, and Isis Pharmaceuticals

. As an update on the panels, NPS Pharmaceuticals' Gastrointestinal drug Gattex was approved by the FDA panel this afternoon, and has since been halted.

In a shocking move, Citigroup

CEO Vikrim Pandit resigned this morning following an earnings beat Monday. Further raising suspicions, Citigroup COO John Havens moved his retirement up from the end of the year to this morning, leaving the company suddenly as well. Speculation is buzzing around the event, but many expect some sort of internal crisis or scandal at the bank, stay tuned for details. In an interview with Maria Bartiromo of CNBC, Pandit stated that it was for personal reasons he left, and that no bomb was coming for the company.

Murphy Oil

consolidated its gain, remaining up 8.20 percent at $64.46 towards the end of trading Tuesday, after the company announced it would spin off its US downstream business. Fossil

also traded up, increasing 6.52 percent to $90.64 following a wave of analyst upgrades. Shares First Solar

were also up, rising 7.96 percent to $24.02 after signing an agreement with PJB Services for an Indonesian power plant project.

Clearwire

maintained its low from earlier, down 16.95 percent to $2.23 despite an upgrade at DA Davidson. Isis Pharmaceuticals

also continued to fall, dropping 23.08 percent to $10.67 after a downgrade at Piper Jaffray. Shares of Bankrate

were also down, falling 24.95 percent to $10.88 on an earnings miss.

In commodity news, Oil traded up 0.21 percent to $92.04, while Gold traded up 0.52 percent to $1,746.70. Silver traded up 0.16 percent Tuesday Morning to $32.90.

Big news out of the Euro zone today as German lawmakers announced that they were open to ‘precautionary credit for Spain'. This has caused a boost in the Euro as investors expect a mini bailout to hit Spain very soon.

In economic news, the consumer price index month over month came in at 0.6 percent, above the expected 0.5 percent, but equal to the previous number. The consumer price index month over month with food and energy sectors removed came in at 0.1 percent, below the expected 0.2 percent and equal to the prior figure. The consumer price index year over year was also reported, coming in at 2.0 percent, slightly above the expected 1.9 percent and the previous report of 1.7 percent. The consumer price index with energy and food removed came in at 2.0 percent as well, equal to estimates, and slightly higher than the prior figure of 1.9 percent. Total net TIC Flows came in at $91.4 billion, above the prior figure of $74 billion, while net long-term TIC flows came in at $90 billion, well above the estimated $48 billion and the prior figure of $67.2 billion. Industrial production came in at 0.4 percent, above the expected 0.2 percent, and well above the prior figure of -1.4 percent. Capacity utilization was reported at 78.3 percent, equal to estimates and barely above the prior number of 78.0 percent.