Consumer prices climbed 0.7% in February due to higher gasoline prices. The markets opened lower with the Dow falling 54 points to 14,484 while Nasdaq lost 13 points to 3245.
On the upside
DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) withdrew from the auction to acquire Vivendi's Brazilian business GVT.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) will repurchase up to $5 billion in common shares and redeem up to $5.5 billion in preferred stock.
CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP) will form a limited partnership with OGE Energy (NYSE: OGE) and ArcLight Capital Partners.
On the downside
Ulta Beauty (Nasdaq: ULTA) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst estimates but the company forecast current quarter results below expectations prompting a downgrade.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (Nasdaq: GLDD) must restate second and third quarter financial reports and announced the resignation of president and chief operating officer Bruce Biemeck.
Carnival (NYSE: CCL) swung to a profit for the first quarter but the cruise line operator trimmed its full year revenue forecast.
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 broader S&P 500 index lost 6 points to 1556.
