An unexpected drop in existing home sales weighed the markets down to a lower close with the Dow falling 45 points to 13,124. Nasdaq added a point to 3075.

On the upside

Rumors circulated that generic drug maker Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) was close to finalizing a deal to acquire rival Actavis.

Goldman Sachs analyst Heath Terry upgraded LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) to a Buy rating and set a price target of $135 per share.

USG (NYSE: USG) reported upbeat preliminary results for the first two months of the first quarter.

On the downside

Investors locked in profits on DHT Holdings (NYSE: DHT).

AAR (NYSE: AIR) reported higher third quarter earnings but warned of plane shortages and higher expenses in the fourth quarter.

CreXus Investment (NYSE: CXS) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share payable on April 26, 2012 to stockholders of record March 28, 2012.

In the broad market, declining issues barely edged out advancers by a slim margin on the NYSE while advancers outpaced decliners by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks edged up a fraction to 829.