Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower, Costco Profit Beats Wall Street Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.01 percent to 14,446.37 while the NASDAQ fell 0.14 percent to 3,248.45. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11 percent to 1,554.56. Index Technicals:
The S&P 500 has been defending its 50 EMA on the 10 minute chart with some strength, while it has been showing intraday resistance at 1,556 and support at 1,550. The Dow seems to be stalling at 14,440, with lower intraday support at 12,250 while defending its 50 EMA on its 10 minute chart. The Russell looks to be stalling at its 943 highs, while holding lower support at 930. Finally, the NASDAQ is showing resistance at 3,253, with lower support at 3,215. Top Headline
Costco Wholesale COST reported upbeat fiscal-second-quarter earnings. Costco's quarterly earnings surged to $547 million, or $1.24 per share, from $394 million, or $0.90 per share, in the year-ago period. Its net sales rose to $24.34 billion from $22.51 billion, while net revenue climbed to $24.87 billion from $22.97 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.05 per share on sales of $24.34 billion. Equities Trading UP
Heckmann HEK shot up 7.82 percent to $4.00 after the company posted a profit in the fourth quarter. Shares of CVR Refining LP CVRR got a boost, shooting up 8.10 percent to $32.42 after the company reported a rise in its full year 2012 net income. VeriFone Systems PAY was also up, gaining 5.47 percent to $21.58 after the company reported that its CEO, Douglas Bergeron, is stepping down. Equities Trading DOWN
AVG Technologies NV AVG shares tumbled 7.20 percent to $12.64 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal-weight. Yandex NV YNDX was also down, falling 7.03 percent to $23.27 after the company commenced an underwritten public offering of an aggregate of 24,253,987 Class A shares by selling shareholders. Shares of U.S. Silica Holdings SLCAwere down 8.95 percent to $24.16 after the company announced 8.5 million share secondary offering by selling stockholder. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.14 percent to $93.11, while gold traded up 0.90 percent to $1,592.20. Silver traded up 1.20 percent Tuesday to $29.20, while copper rose 1.42 percent to $3.57. Euro zone
European shares were mixed after some weak economic data from the U.K. as inflation in Germany and other core European nations remained low in February, signaling more room for the ECB to ease policy further. U.K. January industrial production fell 1.2 percent, well worse than forecasts of a 0.1 percent gain and also much worse than December's 1.1 percent gain. Manufacturing output also fell 1.5 percent in January on expectations of a flat reading. The Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 0.17 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.36 percent. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.02 percent, London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.10 percent, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.13 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.04 percent. Economics
The NFIB small-business confidence index rose 1.9 points to 90.8% in February. In the week ended Saturday, the ICSC/Goldman Sachs Retail Chain Store Sales Index rose 0.7% from the previous week. Retail sales climbed 2.7% in the latest week ended March 9, according to report released by Johnson Redbook. The Treasury is also set to auction 4-week and 3-year notes and also issue its monthly budget statement.