Mid-Day Market Update: U.S. Stocks Turn Lower; Dow Drops Over 150 Points

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.68 percent to 24,180.47 while the NASDAQ declined 0.68 percent to 6,920.49. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.91 percent to 2,624.82.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the basic materials shares climbed 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Gerdau SA (ADR) GGB, up 3 percent, and DRDGOLD Ltd. (ADR) DRD, up 3 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares tumbled 2.46 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included SCANA Corporation SCG, down 6 percent, and PG&E Corporation PCG down 5 percent.

Top Headline

General Motors Company GM reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

The company said it earned $1.65 per share on revenue of $37.7 billion in the fourth quarter. However, Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.37 per share on revenue of $36.6 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Cyanotech Corporation CYAN shares shot up 36 percent to $5.25. Cyanotech reported Q3 earnings of $0.19 per share on revenue of $9.15 million.

Shares of Asta Funding, Inc. ASFI got a boost, shooting up 48 percent to $10.55. Asta Funding reported a $5.30 per share special dividend.

Quotient Limited QTNT shares were also up, gaining 43 percent to $4.26 following a strong Q3 earnings beat.

Equities Trading DOWN

Clearwater Paper Corp CLW shares dropped 23 percent to $34.05 after the company posted downbeat Q4 earnings and issued a weak Q1 earnings forecast.

Shares of 8Point3 Energy Partners LP CAFD were down 12 percent to $12.15. 8point3 Energy reported Q4 sales of $15.8 million and net income of $8.8 million. The company reported a deal to be purchased by Capital Dynamics at $12.35 per share in cash.

Colfax Corp CFX was down, falling around 12 percent to $33.20. Colfax posted upbeat quarterly profit, but sales missed estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.61 percent to $63.76 while gold traded down 0.37 percent to $1,331.50.

Silver traded down 0.37 percent Tuesday to $16.61, while copper fell 0.92 percent to $3.1915.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.99 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 1.55 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1.58 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.17 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.42 percent.

Economics

The U.S. trade deficit increased 5.3 percent to $53.1 billion in December. However, economists were expecting a $52.2 billion deficit.

U.S. job openings slipped to 5.81 million for December, versus a prior reading of 5.88 million.

The Treasury will auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.