The markets opened mixed with the Dow gaining 44 points to 15,235 while Nasdaq fell 17 points to 3711 over disappointment with Apple's pricing strategy for its newly unveiled low-end iPhone 5C.
On the upside
Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE: HNR) entered exclusive negotiations to sell itself to Pluspetrol Venezuela.
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgraded Nokia (NYSE: NOK) from a Neutral rating to a Buy rating while Berenberg upgraded the company from a Sell rating to a Buy rating.
Ventrus Biosciences (Nasdaq: VTUS) reported positive results from two clinical dermal safety studies and one pharmacokinetic study of its anal fissure treatment VEN 307.
On the downside
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and UBS all downgraded Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) saying that the low end iPhone 5C that was unveiled yesterday was still too expensive.
Profit taking weighed down shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU).
ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) priced its registered direct offering of approximately $70 million in American Depositary Shares.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 3 points to 1680.
