Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Rises 3%; Tupperware Shares Drop On Weak Results

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.23 percent to 16,203.69 while the NASDAQ dipped 0.22 percent to 4,557.80. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.50 percent to 1,913.06. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Wednesday, energy shares rose by 1.45 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Whiting Petroleum Corp WLL, up 14 percent, and Baytex Energy Corp (USA) BTE up 12 percent. In trading on Wednesday, technology shares dipped by 0.65 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Total System Services, Inc. TSS, down 11 percent, and VMware, Inc. VMW, down 8 percent. Top Headline Boeing Co BA reported upbeat Q4 earnings, but the company issued a weak forecast for 2016. Boeing earned $1.60 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $23.6 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.27 per share on revenue of $23.55 billion. Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Boeing expects to earn $8.15 to $8.35 per share on revenue of $93 billion to $95 billion. Wall Street analysts were projecting the company to earn $9.43 per share on revenue of $97.17 billion. Equities Trading UP Capnia Inc CAPN shares shot up 13 percent to $1.46 as the company reported an exclusive nationwide distribution agreement for CoSense on Tuesday. Shares of CommVault Systems, Inc. CVLT got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $35.65 after the company reported stronger-than-expected Q3 results. Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. HA shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $36.99. Hawaiian Holdings reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.85 per share on revenue of $574.15 million. Deutsche Bank upgraded Hawaiian Holdings from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $35.00 to $40.00. Equities Trading DOWN VMware, Inc. VMW shares dropped 8 percent to $45.24. VMware reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday. The company issued a weak forecast for 2016 and announced plans to cut around 800 jobs. Shares of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc SC were down 14 percent to $11.46 after the company reported downbeat Q4 earnings. Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP was down, falling around 15 percent to $43.62 as the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 3.02 percent to $32.40, while gold traded down 0.27 percent to $1,117.60. Silver traded down 0.51 percent Wednesday to $14.49, while copper rose 1.62 percent to $2.07. Eurozone European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.31 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.56 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index tumbled 0.40 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.59 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.54 percent, while U.K. shares rose 1.33 percent. Economics Sales of new homes surged 10.8 percent to an annual pace of 544,000 in December. However, economists were expecting a 500,000 rate. Crude inventories rose 8.4 million barrels for the week ended January 22, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Analysts were expecting crude supplies to rise 3.5 million barrels. Gasoline supplies gained 3.5 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 4.1 million barrels last week. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.