On the upside
CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) sweetened terms of its $1 billion debt buy-back offer. Investors hope that the small business lender can avert bankruptcy.
CyberSource (Nasdaq: CYBS) posted higher revenues and a profit. An analyst promptly upgraded the electronic payment provider.
On the downside
Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) posted lower revenues and earnings that beat expectations. However, its guidance for drilling activity was neutral.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced lower revenue that missed analysts' estimates.
Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) posted higher sales, but the results were not as robust as investors had hoped given the fact that the stock had risen 80% so far this year.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL) announced that its rheumatoid arthritis drug candidate missed Phase II study goals.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 5 points to 540.
