News that the nation's economy expanded by a greater than expected 3.6% in the third quarter raised concerns that the Federal Reserve may soon begin tapering its bond buying program. The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow slipping 26 points to 15,862 while Nasdaq added 2 points to 4040.
On the upside
China Auto Logistics (Nasdaq: CALI) subsidiary Tianjin Binhai Shisheng TradingGroup will pay approximately $91.4 million to acquire Airport International Automall owner and operator Tianjin Zhonghe Auto Sales Service.
Second quarter earnings fell for Methode Electronics (NYSE: MEI) but revenue surged.
Puma Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PBYI) reported upbeat results from a Phase II clinical trial of its breast cancer treatment PB272.
On the downside
Shares of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) continued falling despite reporting an impressive 10.1% increase in November same store sales Tuesday after market close.
Oculus Innovative Sciences (Nasdaq: OCLS) will offer $2.2 million in common stock.
Alberta Investment Management sold its entire holdings of 56 million shares in Precision Drilling (NYSE: PDS).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 3 points to 1789. Bitcoin plummeted $136.37 or 11.32% to $1,068.68.
