Markets flat at midday

The markets traded near the flatline during the midday with Dow edging down 4 points to 18,107. Nasdaq slipped 3 points to 5,007.

On the upside

Shares of Etsy (Nasdaq: ETSY) surged on its first trading day.

Party City (NYSE: PRTY) stock soared in its market debut.

Shares of Virtu Financial (Nasdaq: VIRT) climbed on its first day of trading.

On the downside

Investors locked in profits on Natural Health Trends (Nasdaq: NHTC).

ForceField Energy (Nasdaq: FNRG) said that a report issued by MoxResearch yesterday contained inaccurate information but the stock price continued falling.

Retreating crude oil prices weighed down shares of Gulfmark Offshore (NYSE: GLF).

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by more than 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 eased a point to 2104. Bitcoin rose $7 to $227.