Rising jobless claims and renewed concerns about European debt weighed the markets down to a lower close with the Dow falling 76 points to 10,662. Nasdaq lost 7 points to 2327.
On the upside
White Oak Solar Energy selected SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) to build, operate and maintain a 10-megawatt solar park in Dover, Delaware.
The Chinese denied that it was retaliating against Japan for detaining a Chinese fishing boat captain by banning rare earth exports to the island nation. Shares of U. S. based rare earth oxides developer Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) rose on rumors of the ban by China.
Shares of National Gas (NYSE: NFG) continued climbing after reporting successful results yesterday from two wells drilled in the Marellus Shale property in Pennsylvania.
On the downside
General Maritime (Nasdaq: GMR) entered into one-year time charter contracts with Trafigura for six of its vessels.
A Seeking Alpha article suggested that Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV) may not survive the current housing slump.
Credit Suisse analyst David Gagliano said that third quarter, fourth quarter and full year income must be trimmed for U. S. Steel (NYSE: X) due to weaker than expected demand.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 7 points to 648.
