Higher crude oil prices weighed the markets down to a lower close with the Dow losing 29 points to 12,380. Nasdaq dropped 15 points to 2780.
On the upside
Rising silver prices lifted shares of Pan American Silver (Nasdaq: PAAS).
GenCorp (NYSE: GY) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the first quarter earnings as revenue climbed.
China Automotive (Nasdaq: CAAS) reported preliminary fourth quarter revenue that surpassed analyst expectations by a wide margin.
On the downside
Sangamo BioSciences (Nasdaq: SGMO) priced its public offering of 6.7 million common shares at $7.70 per share.
Irish Life & Permanent withdrew its offer to acquire Allied Irish Banks' (NYSE: AIB) asset management unit after stress tests indicated that Irish Life & Permanent must raise 4 billion euros.
Shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (Nasdaq: PFLT) fell on its first trading day.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 8 points to 840.
