The markets closed modestly lower with the Dow losing 21 points to 13,391 on mixed December retail sales. Nasdaq slipped 11 points to 3100.
On the upside
Transocean (NYSE: RIG) agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle civil and criminal charges for its role in the Deep Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers.
SunPower's (Nasdaq: SPWR) contract to supply MidAmerican Energy with two solar power projects lifted shares of LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK), Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) and Suntech Power (NYSE: STP).
Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) paid approximately $45 million in cash to acquire Acuo Technologies.
On the downside
Frost & Sullivan listed Fortinet (Nasdaq: FTNT) as the leader in the global Unified Threat Management space but the stock price fell. Retreating gold prices weighed down shares of Goldcorp (NYSE: GG).
Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI) will present its iSpO2 pulse oximeter at the CES 2013 next week but the stock price dropped.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index slipped 3 points to 1459.
Mixed Retail Sales Weigh Markets Down To Modestly Lower Close
January 03, 2013 at 16:40 PM EST