Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down 1.5%; Canadian Solar Shares Drop On Earnings Miss

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.90 percent to 20,718.61 while the NASDAQ declined 1.47 percent to 5,814.99. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.97 percent to 2,350.47.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday afternoon, the utilities sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from National Grid plc (ADR) NGG and Dominion Resources, Inc. D.

In trading on Tuesday, basic materials shares fell 1.99 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Cliffs Natural Resources Inc CLF, down 9 percent, and AK Steel Holding Corporation AKS, down 9 percent.

Top Headline

General Mills, Inc. GIS reported upbeat earnings for its fiscal third quarter, while sales missed estimates.

General Mills posted Q3 earnings of $0.72 per share on revenue of $3.79 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $0.71 per share on revenue of $3.82 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Versar Inc. VSR shares shot up 37 percent to $1.55 after the company disclosed that its long-term joint venture with Johnson Controls Federal Systems was awarded up to $950 million IDIQ contract with U.S. Air Force.

Shares of Pulmatrix Inc PULM got a boost, shooting up 29 percent to $3.59 after the company reported that it has received a European patent for inhaled drug delivery technology.

Silicom Ltd. SILC shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $45.45. Silicom reported a major new design win with $17 million in purchase orders.

Equities Trading DOWN

Axsome Therapeutics Inc AXSM shares dropped 18 percent to $3.62. Axsome Therapeutics priced 3.74 million shares at $3.74 per share.

Shares of Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ were down around 11 percent to $12.10 after the company posted downbeat quarterly earnings and issued a weak forecast.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company LJPC was down, falling around 13 percent to $33.49. La Jolla Pharmaceutical reported a proposed underwritten public offering of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5 percent to $48.17 while gold traded up 1 percent to $1,246.40.

Silver traded up 0.76 percent Tuesday to $17.57, while copper fell 2.02 percent to $2.613.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.53 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.02 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.25 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.75 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.19 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.69 percent.

Economics

U.S. current account deficit declined 3.1 percent to $112.4 billion in the fourth quarter. Economists were expecting a deficit of $128.3 billion.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak in Richmond, Va. at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Bali, Indonesia at 9:45 p.m. ET.