Renewed concerns about European debt weighed down the markets during the midday with the Dow losing 37 points to 11,406. Nasdaq rose 3 points to 2582.
On the upside
Uranium Resources (Nasdaq: URRE) raised $9 million through a registered offering and settled a lease agreement lawsuit in Texas.
Inland Empire Utilities Agency purchased a power plant from FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL) for installation at a wastewater treatment plant.
Aastrom Biosciences (Nasdaq: ASTM) widened third quarter losses as expenses increased but the stock price rose as investors anticipate upbeat results next week from the company's Phase 2b clinical trial of its RESTORE-CLI treatment for critical limb ischemia.
On the downside
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Krish Sankar downgraded Photronics (Nasdaq: PLAB) to an Underperform rating saying that sales will slow.
Republic Airways Holdings (Nasdaq: RJET) reported sharply higher third quarter earnings but revenue fell short of estimates and the airliner announced an offering of 12 million common shares.
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. expects BHP (NYSE: BHP) to make an offer for Woodside Petroleum rather than Andarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 735.