The markets recovered early morning losses to trade mixed during the midday with the Dow tumbling 90 points to 17,762 as job openings climbed to a 13-year high. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 4,747.

On the upside

PetroQuest Energy (NYSE: PQ) made a significant discovery at its Thunder Bayou Project in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana.

PDC Energy (Nasdaq: PDCE) established a capital budget for 2015 of approximately $557 million and forecast production growth of approximately 50%.

Bloomberg reported that Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN) was exploring a possible acquisition of Santander Consumer USA (NYSE: SC).

On the downside

UTi Worldwide (Nasdaq: UTIW) widened third quarter losses more than expected as revenue fell and announced the resignation of chief executive officer Eric Kirchner.

Raymond James downgraded Spirit Airlines (Nasdaq: SAVE) from an Outperform rating to a Market Perform rating.

Investors locked in profits on Idera Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IDRA).

In the broad market, declining issues barely edged out advancers by a slim margin on the NYSE while advancers outpaced declines by 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 lost 6 points to 2053. Bitcoin fell $14 to $347.