Increasing radiation from the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant prompted Japan to raise the rating of the atomic alert to match the Chernobyl disaster rating of 7. The markets opened sharply lower with the Dow plunging 112 points to 12,268 while Nasdaq tumbled 25 points to 2746.
On the upside
Identive Group's (Nasdaq: INVE) Smartag unit will be the exclusive supplier of near field communication RFID stickers for Google Places in Austin, Texas.
Bargain hunters lifted shares of Community Health (NYSE: CYH), whose stock price plunged yesterday after Tenet Health filed a lawsuit against the hospital operator alleging Medicare fraud.
Reuters reported that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) had been exploring the possible acquisition of Tibco Software (Nasdaq: TIBX).
On the downside
WMS Industries (NYSE: WMS) warned that third quarter earnings will miss estimates due to lower demand and forecast full year results below analyst expectations.
Extreme Networks (Nasdaq: EXTR) blamed delayed customer purchases for warning that third quarter revenue will fall short of expectations.
Safe Bulkers (NYSE: SB) priced its offering of 5 million common shares at $8.40 per share.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 8 points to 825.
