2:00 pm : Since notching its intraday high around 12:00 ET, the S&P 500 has spent the past two hours slipping back to its lows. Similarly, the Dow and Nasdaq have taken a few steps back from their best levels of the day.

Although a handful of cyclical groups have been able to make a brief appearance in the black, the continued weakness in financials has prevented the broader market from catching up to the outperformers.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average is one of those outperformers as the bellwether complex trades with a loss of 0.1%. While most index components register losses, it appears airlines have been cleared for takeoff with United Continental (UAL 34.12, +0.88) higher by 2.7%.DJ30 -5.14 NASDAQ -6.75 SP500 -5.70 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1115/1.15 bln/1334 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 968/436.5 mln/2022

1:30 pm : The major averages hover near their recent levels with the S&P 500 leading to the downside (-0.6%). The Dow and Nasdaq trade ahead of the benchmark average, but the two indices have returned into the red after making a brief appearance in positive territory.

Cyclical sectors continue to pressure the broader market with financials down 1.0%.

Notably, gold futures have strengthened. The yellow metal trades higher by 1.8% at $1392.50.DJ30 -38.27 NASDAQ -12.52 SP500 -9.07 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1040/1.08 bln/1411 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 884/409.7 mln/2103

1:54PM COMEX Metals Closing Prices (COMDX) :

• June gold rose $24.30 to $1391.70/ounce
• Gold rose for a first time in three sessions as China's HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI data showed a first contractionary reading in seven months. A weaker dollar index also helped support the yellow metal's advance. Although prices dipped to a session low of $1375.20 in late morning action, gold inched higher for the remainder of the session and settled with a 1.8% gain.
• July silver rose $0.03 to $22.50/ounce
• Silver spent most of today's pit trade in negative territory, touching a session low of $22.16. It picked up momentum heading into afternoon action and erased all of its earlier losses as it settled 0.1% higher.
• July copper fell 8 cents to $3.30/lb

1:31PM Northrop Grumman signs a U.S. Department of Defense mentor-protege agreement with Davidson Technologies (NOC) 80.52 +0.27 : Co has signed a U.S. Department of Defense mentor-protege agreement with Davidson Technologies, a teammate on Northrop Grumman's Joint National Integration Center Research and Development Contract (JRDC). Under the 36-month agreement approved by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Northrop Grumman will mentor Davidson Technologies in several areas, including cybersecurity and information assurance, systems engineering, integrated logistics support, ISO 9000 standards, strategic planning, corporate policies, marketing, contracts and subcontracts, and human resources and accounting systems.

12:32PM Notable movers of interest (SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).

Large Cap Gainers

• HPQ (24.21 +14.02%): Beat on EPS by $0.06, missed on revs; guided Q3 EPS above consensus; raised low end of FY13 EPS guidance; raised dividend 10%; target raised to $18 from $14 at Mizuho; upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies; tgt to $25 from $20 at Credit Suisse; tgt to $24.50 from $22 at JPMorgan.
• WDAY (68.73 +4.53%): Beat on EPS by $0.03, beat on revs; guided Q2 revs in-line; raised FY14 rev in-line; tgt to $70 from $65 at JMP; heard positive comments at Pacific Crest following earnings; reiterated Outperform rating and $70 tgt; tgt raised to $75 from $70 at Canaccord Genuity; tgt raised to $70 from $57 at UBS.
• DOV (80.04 +4.75%): Co announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved a plan to spin off certain of its communication technologies business; co's annual rev, on a pro-forma basis for 2013, will be ~$7.4 to $7.6 bln (may not compare to Capital IQ consensus $8.71 bln); upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

• NMR (8.61 -7.96%): Japan related names trading lower after Nikkei plunged 7.3% (MTU, SMFG, MFG, NTT).
• SRE (78.78 -3.52%): Co narrowed FY13 EPS guidance to $4.30-4.60 from $4.30-4.80.
• O (51.04 -2.62%): Downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.

• LPS (32.71 +12.35%): Fidelity National Financial (FNF) and buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners are in discussions to purchase LPS for $33/share, according to reports.
• HEI (51.36 +11.87%): Beat on EPS by $0.04, beat on revs; raised FY13 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus.
• TTC (48.84 +5.15%): Beat on EPS by $0.15, beat on revs; reaffirmed FY13 EPS guidance; lowered FY13 rev guidance in-line.

• BKE (53.53 -6.32%): Missed on EPS by $0.04, missed on revs; Q1 comps +1.2% y/y.
• SMTC (34.39 -5.34%): Reported EPS in-line, beat on revs; guided Q2 EPS in-line, revs in-line; Director bought 82,700 shares at $1.99-2.01 worth ~ $200K.
• HK (5.79 -4.47%): Co provided Utica/Point Pleasant operational update; Phillips 1H (90% WI), located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, tested at a peak rate of 120 barrels of condensate per day and 2.5 million cubic feet of per day of 1,250 BTU natural gas.