Increasing frustration with Greece's inability to reach a debt agreement weighed the markets down during the midday with the Dow losing 30 points to 12,848. Nasdaq slipped 2 points to 2901.
On the upside
The stock price of casino-entertainment provider Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR) soared on its first trading day.
Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC) swung to a third quarter loss but the results were better than expected.
Fourth quarter earnings for Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG) tumbled but the results beat analyst expectations.
On the downside
OpenTable (Nasdaq: OPEN) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations but the restaurant reservation service warned of slower growth in the first quarter prompting downgrades.
Fourth quarter earnings for Western Union (NYSE: WU) nearly doubled but the money transfer services firm forecast 2012 results far short of analyst expectations.
Apollo Investment (Nasdaq: AINV) reported lower third quarter earnings and may raise up to $200 million through an equity offering.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 9 to 7 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 point to 823.