Mid-Day Market Update: Halliburton Jumps On Q1 Results, Wipro Falls

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.20 percent to 14,517.86 while the NASDAQ surged 0.55 percent to 3,223.79. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.15 percent to 1,557.65.

The S&P 500 looks to be bouncing off its 1,535 support Friday, looking to open higher with a morning over its 1,555 resistance and 1,560 as resistance above that. Next up, the Dow looks to be bouncing off its 14,445 support, while its daily 50 EMA support lies lower at 14,359.5, with 14,650/14,600 acting as resistance above. The NASDAQ is hanging at its 50 EMA support, with its resistance on its daily chart at 3,209.04, with 3,150 acting as support below and 3,210 as resistance above that. Finally, the Russell looks to be closing just above the 910 resistances, with 925 resistance above that and the 900 level acting as support.

Caterpillar

reported a fall in its first-quarter profit and also lowered its 2013 forecast. Caterpillar's quarterly profit declined to $880 million, or $1.31 per share, versus $1.59 billion, or $2.37 per share, in the year-earlier period. Its revenue fell to $13.21 billion from $15.98 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.36 per share on revenue of $13.8 billion.

Delhaize Group

shot up 10.93 percent to $61.74 after the company issued preliminary Q1 results. Shares of Six Flags Entertainment

got a boost, shooting up 5.32 percent to $75.04 after the company reported strong Q1 results. Halliburton Company

was also up, gaining 4.57 percent to $38.91 after the company posted higher Q1 revenue.

NVR

was down, falling 8.56 percent to $920.00 after the company reported weak Q1 results. Shares of Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV

were down 5.27 percent to $26.81 on Q1 results. Wipro

shares tumbled 5.30 percent to $7.70 after JP Morgan downgraded the stock from “overweight” to “neutral.”

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.53 percent to $88.48, while gold traded up 1.92 percent to $1,422.40. Silver traded up 1.63 percent Monday to $23.39, while copper fell 0.58 percent to $3.14.

European shares were mostly higher as Italy elected an interim government to set up a new round of elections. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.42 percent while the Italian FTSE MIB Index gained 1.66 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.24 percent and the French CAC gained 0.01 percent and U.K. shares declined 0.09 percent.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to -0.23 in March, down from a revised reading of 0.76 in February. Sales of US existing homes dropped 0.6% to an annual rate of 4.92 million in March, versus an original estimate of 4.98 million in February.