Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow, S&P 500 Turn Higher; Scientific Games Shares Drop Following Q3 Results

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.11 percent to 17,750.39 while the NASDAQ declined 0.23 percent to 5,083.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.14 percent to 2,081.47.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares jumped by 0.57 percent. Top gainers in the sector included

, up 6 percent, and

, up 5 percent. Technology shares declined around 0.80 percent in Tuesday's trading. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 27 percent, and

, off 17 percent.

reported weaker-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company reported a quarterly profit of $201.3 million, or $1.50 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $248.7 million, or $1.79 per share. Excluding certain items, the company's earnings slipped to $1.57 per share from $1.86 per share. Its revenue fell 9.8 percent to $1.61 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.79 per share on revenue of $1.68 billion.

shares shot up 89 percent to $8.43 after the company agreed to be acquired by

for $8.50 per share. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $9.73. SciClone Pharmaceuticals reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.26 per share on revenue of $42.9 million.

shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $5.89 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings.

shares tumbled 41 percent to $8.67 following earlier announcement of understated well outputs and incorrect data. Shares of

were down 19 percent to $9.37. Scientific Games reported Q3 net loss of $7.88 per share on revenue of $671.6 million.

was down, falling 24 percent to $7.98 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.82 percent to $44.23, while gold traded down 0.05 percent to $1,087.60. Silver traded down 0.30 percent Tuesday to $14.37, while copper fell 0.49 percent to $2.22.

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.03 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.08 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.32 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.16 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.02 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.32 percent.

U.S. import prices dropped 0.5 percent in October, while export prices slipped 0.2 percent last month. U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.50 percent in September, versus economists' expectations for a 1.00 percent growth.