The markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow falling 50 points to 11,103 as consumer income slipped 0.3% in August. Nasdaq dropped 16 points to 2464.
On the upside
Geron (Nasdaq: GERN) named John A. Scarlett to the position of chief executive.
Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq: SPRD) completed a research and development project after meeting the final significant milestone to secure an $8 million TD-SCDMA grant from China Mobile.
Pharmasset (Nasdaq: VRUS) reported positive results for its hepatitis C treatment PSI-7977.
On the downside
The cost of Morgan Stanley's (NYSE: MS) credit default swaps climbed.
Citigroup lowered its price target on Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) to $82.
Cemex (NYSE: CX) reassured investors that it would meet its debt obligations and would raise $1 billion through asset sales but the stock price fell.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point to 660.