The markets extended its losses during the midday with the Dow slumping 159 point to 12,343 as European economic concerns trumped a gain in new home sales. Nasdaq plummeted 32 points to 2807.
On the upside
PetSmart (Nasdaq: PETM) reported sharply higher first quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations as revenue rose and lifted its full year guidance.
First quarter earnings dropped for Guess (NYSE: GES) but the results beat expectations.
Five Star Equities expects large pharmaceuticals to explore acquiring biotechnology firm Rosetta Genomics (Nasdaq: ROSG).
On the downside
Piper Jaffray analyst Mark Murphy expects billings growth to slow which sent shares of Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) tumbling.
Shares of Galena Biopharma (Nasdaq: GALE) continued falling after TheStreet questioned the effectiveness of the company's breast cancer vaccine NeuVax yesterday.
Investors locked in profits on Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) whose stock price spiked recently over acquisition rumors.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by a nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 9 points to 750.