Housing starts slipped last month to weigh the markets down to a lower close with the Dow dropping 68 points to 13,170. Nasdaq lost 4 points to 3074.

On the upside

The Commerce Department imposed tariffs on Chinese solar imports that were lower than expected which lifted shares of Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE).

Michael Kors (NYSE: KORS) lifted its fourth quarter earnings and revenue guidance.

Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) continued rising in anticipation of the blockbuster release of "The Hunger Games" this weekend.

On the downside

Avondale dowgraded Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) from a rating of Outperform to Market Perform.

NuPathe (Nasdaq: PATH) reported a loss for the fourth quarter.

Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE) disappointed with lower first quarter earnings and the company forecast current quarter earnings below estimates.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 8 points to 829.