Stronger than expected job growth in February lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 59 points to 16,481. Nasdaq lost 11 points to 4340.
On the upside
Skullcandy (Nasdaq: SKUL) reported lower fourth quarter earnings and revenue but the results were better than expected prompting an upgrade.
Fourth quarter earnings slipped for Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) but revenue beat expectations.
Smith Micro Software (Nasdaq: SMSI) narrowed losses for the fourth quarter.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Pixelworks (Nasdaq: PXLW).
Goldman Sachs downgraded Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) to a Sell rating after the company announced on Wednesday that it must pay $27.5 million in civil penalties for exceeding water discharge permit limits.
FIreEye (Nasdaq: FEYE) priced its follow-on offering of 14 million common shares at the discounted price of $82 per share.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 added 2 points to 1879. Bitcoin lost $26.59 or 4.06% to $628.58.
