Mid-Day Market Update: US Stocks Turn Lower; Super Micro Computer Shares Rise On Strong Outlook

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.27 percent to 16,354.19 while the NASDAQ declined 0.02 percent to 4,637.11. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.25 percent to 1,918.84. Leading and Lagging Sectors On Tuesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.20 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc BBW, up 6 percent, and Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU, up 6 percent. In trading on Tuesday, energy shares tumbled by 2.14 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Teekay Tankers Ltd. TNK, down 16 percent, and Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. TOO, down 13 percent. Top Headline Alcoa Inc AA reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter on Monday. The company posted a quarterly loss of $500 million, or $0.39 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $159 million, or $0.11 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $0.04 per share. Its sales declined 18 percent to $5.2 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.02 per share on sales of 5.3 billion. Equities Trading UP Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc SNOW shares shot up 23 percent to $8.63 after the company reported a Dutch auction to sell $50 million of stock between $9 and $10. Shares of Super Micro Computer, Inc. SMCI got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $26.32 after the company issued a strong Q2 forecast. Apollo Education Group Inc APOL shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $7.50. Apollo Global Management LLC APO is in advanced talks to acquire Apollo Education, according to sources as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Equities Trading DOWN Skullcandy Inc SKUL shares dropped 31 percent to $3.16 after the company announced Monday afternoon its fourth-quarter sales are now expected to be flat on a year-over-year basis. The company also lowered its Q4 earnings forecast. Shares of HeartWare International Inc HTWR were down 36 percent to $26.06 after the company provided a corporate update. The company reported preliminary Q4 revenue of $68 million. Natural Health Trends Corp. NHTC was down, falling around 8 percent to $18.96. Natural Health Trends expects Q4 revenue of around $73.6 million. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 3.63 percent to $30.27, while gold traded down 0.93 percent to $1,086.00. Silver traded down 0.69 percent Tuesday to $13.77, while copper fell 0.81 percent to $1.96. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.88 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.33 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.08 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX jumped 1.63 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.53 percent, while U.K. shares gained 0.79 percent. Economics The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.