Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Heading Down; Facebook Renews its Rally

Mid-way through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.44 percent to 12,572.25 while the NASDAQ fell 1.23percent to 2,848.53. The S&P also fell, decreasing 1.33 percent to 1,356.31.

Leading into the latest lock-up expiration, shares of Facebook

shot up over 12 percent on a massive 200 million share trade volume. Speculation is out on whether or not Facebook may be buying up the newly unlocked shares.

Abercrombie & Fitch

rose further towards the end of trading, up 33.96 percent at $41.77 after posting a big earnings beat and raising its guidance Wednesday morning. Shares of Woodward

were also on the rise, up 8.54 percent to $34.81 following an earnings beat and optimistic guidance after the close Tuesday. MEMC Electronic Materials

rallied 4.82 percent to $2.29 as a possible technical turn.

IAMGOLD

continued its fall, declining 19.78 percent in early trading to $11.92 after the company posted an earnings miss Tuesday and was downgraded to Neutral at Macquarie. Trina Solar Limited

also took a hit, dropping 17.85 percent throughout the day to $2.67 after a shipping estimate cut and a Deutsche Bank price target cut this morning Shares of BGC Partners

was also falling, trading down 9.43 percent to $3.32 following a hit in revenue due to a trading slump.

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.01 percent to $86.23, while gold traded up 0.12 percent to $1,726.80. Silver traded up 0.21 percent Wednesday to $32.70.

European shares fell mostly this morning among continued Greek and Spanish fears. The EU's Olli Rehn made a statement in Brussels stressing the importance of fiscal council, and noted the risks for nominal Spain targets next year. Most importantly, he said that Spain's 2014 deficit steps have fallen short.

In economic news, MBA mortgage applications came in at 12.6 percent, well above the previous report of -5.0 percent. Retail sales were also reported, coming in at -0.3 percent, just below the expected -0.2 percent, and well below the prior reading of 1.1 percent, while core retail sales came in at -0.3 percent as well, much below the expected 0.4 percent, and well below the prior report of 1.1 percent. The purchasing price index (PPI) year over year came in at came in at 2.3 percent, below the expected 2.6 percent, and above the prior rating of 2.1 percent. The core PPI year over year came in at 2.1 percent, below the expected 2.5 percent and the previous report of 2.3 percent. The purchasing price index (PPI) month over month was also reported, coming in at -0.2 percent, below the expected 0.2 percent and well below the prior report of 1.1 percent, while the core PPI month over month was reported at -0.2 percent, below the expected 0.1 percent and the previously reported 0.0 percent.