Mixed corporate earnings weighed the markets down to a sharply lower open with the Dow tumbling 111 points to 11,032. Nasdaq dropped 29 points to 2450.
On the upside
An article in the Wall Street Journal said that Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE) was exploring the possible sale of the company.
Shares of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PPHM) continued climbing after reporting upbeat interim data from a Phase II clinical trial of its brain cancer treatment Cotara on Friday.
Third quarter earnings for Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH) more than tripled to beat analyst expectations prompting the company to raise its full year outlook.
On the downside
Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN) reversed year ago losses to post a better than expected profit for the third quarter but the company forecast fourth quarter results below estimates.
Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR) warned of an unexpected loss for the third quarter.
Supervalu (NYSE: SVU) disappointed with a greater than expected loss for the second quarter and cut its full year guidance.
In the broad market, declinig issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 7 points to 702.
