Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Slip; Monsanto Reports Wider Loss

Following the

Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.73 percent to 15,080.49 while the NASDAQ declined 0.39 percent to 3,803.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.60 percent to 1,684.84.

Monsanto Co

reported a

loss. Monsanto posted a quarterly loss of $249 million, or $0.47 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $229 million, or $0.44 per share. Its revenue surged to $2.20 billion from $2.10 billion. However, analysts were estimating a loss of $0.43 per share on revenue of $2.26 billion. Monsanto announced its plans to buy The Climate Corporation for $930 million in cash. It expects FY14 earnings of $5 to $5.20 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $5.31 per share.

Rockwell Medical

shot up 11.19 percent to $12.72 after the company reported that the

has been accepted as a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial. Shares of Portugal Telecom, SGPS S.A.

got a boost, shooting up 9.89 percent to $5.0002 after Portugal Telecom and Oi SA

announced a memorandum of understanding for merger of activities. Global Payments

was also up, gaining 8.42 percent to $54.97 after after the company reported

and raised its annual forecast. Global Payments named Jeffrey S. Sloan as its new chief executive and announced its plans to buy back up to $100 million of its common stock.

Shares of Team

were down 11.93 percent to $35.23 after the company lowered its annual earnings outlook. Teekay LNG Partners LP

shares tumbled 4.52 percent to $42.27 after the company priced its follow-on public offering of 3,000,000 common units at $42.62 per unit. Alcoa

was down, falling 2.08 percent to $8.00 after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from Hold to Sell.

In commodity news,

to $102.11, while gold traded up 1.12 percent to $1,300.50. Silver traded up 0.85 percent Wednesday to $21.36, while copper rose 0.29 percent to $3.28.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.16 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.61 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.64 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.82 percent while U.K. shares declined 0.74 percent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its index of mortgage application activity declined 0.40% in the week ended September 27, versus a rise of 5.50% in the prior week. The US private sector added 166,000 jobs in September, according to Automatic Data Processing. However, analysts were projecting a rise of 180,000 jobs. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.