Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NASDAQ Down Over 1%; Amaya Shares Tumble After CEO Charged With Insider Trading In Canada

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.52 percent to 17,491.87 while the NASDAQ declined 1.02 percent to 4,772.29. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.64 percent to 2,036.77.

Wednesday morning, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.15 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included

, up 11 percent, and

, up 4 percent. In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares dipped by 2.33 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included

, down 12 percent, and

, down 13 percent.

reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, but the company missed analysts' sales estimates. General Mills posted quarterly earnings of $361.7 million, or $0.59 per share, compared to $343.2 million, or $0.56 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, the company's adjusted earnings came in at $0.65 per share. Its revenue slipped to $4 billion from $4.35 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.62 per share on revenue of $4.08 billion.

shares shot up 12 percent to $2.81 after the company reported the publication showing CRLX101 localization selectively in human tumors and sparing adjacent healthy tissue. Shares of

got a boost, shooting up 20 percent to $12.05 after the company reported the pricing of a $38.0 million public offering of common stock.

shares were also up, gaining 9 percent to $5.80. CTI Industries reported Q4 earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $59.3 million.

shares dropped 15 percent to $28.25. Kerrisdale Capital stated that in addition to a negative report, SAGE Therapeutics's lead drug candidate "is likely to fail in Phase 3." Shares of

were down 17 percent to $1.15. Eltek reported Q4 earnings of $0.02 per share on revenue of $10.4 million.

was down, falling around 21 percent to $11.23after Quebec's securities regulator charged the company's CEO David Baazov for insider trading, according to a press release. The AMF has charged Baazov, "for aiding with trades while in possession of privileged information, influencing or attempting to influence the market price of Amaya securities and communicating privileged information."

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.84 percent to $39.86, while gold traded down 1.99 percent to $1,225.40. Silver traded down 3.75 percent Wednesday to $15.29, while copper fell 2.21 percent to $2.24.

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.72 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 1.26 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.18 percent, while U.K. shares fell 0.10 percent.

Sales of new US homes gained 2 percent to an annual pace of 512,000 in February. However, economists were expecting a 510,000 rate. Crude oil supplies surged 9.36 million barrels for the week ended March 18, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. However, economists were expecting a gain of 3.09 million barrels. Gasoline supplies slipped 4.64 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 917,000 barrels last week.