Disappointing earnings weighed the markets down during the midday with the Dow losing 23 points to 12,779. Nasdaq dropped 31 points to 2830.
On the upside
Novartis will acquire the global rights to one of ARCA biopharma's (Nasdaq: ABIO) early stage molecular targets.
Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) reported sharply higher first quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations and lifted its full year earnings outlook.
FBR Capital upgraded Hercules Offshore (NYSE: HERO) to an Outperform rating.
On the downside
Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC) blamed a contract revision with the UK National Health Service for slashing its 2011 guidance for the second time.
Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE: VSH) reported higher first quarter earnings but revenue fell short of analyst expectations.
Local.com (Nasdaq: LOCM) disappointed by swinging to a loss for the first quarter and forecasting second quarter results below analyst estimates.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 12 points to 841.
