The markets closed lower as 2007 consumer prices soared by the fastest pace in 17 years. The Dow lost 35 points to 12,466 while Nasdaq tumbled 23 points to 2395.

On the upside

Hospice care provider Odyssey HealthCare (Nasdaq: ODSY) will pay approximately $147.1 million to acquire rival VistaCare (Nasdaq: VSTA).

J. P. Morgan analyst Barton Crockett does not expect Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes movie download service to negatively impact Blockbuster's (NYSE: BBI) revenue.

Jarden (NYSE: JAH) affirmed analyst estimates for its fourth quarter as well as its full year.

On the downside

Jefferies analyst William Choi downgraded Aruba Networks (Nasdaq: ARUN) citing product delays as well as the nation's economic slowdown.

Several Monsanto (NYSE: MON) executive sold shares of the agricultural products company.

H. B. Fuller (NYSE: FUL) reported sharply lower fourth quarter earnings and lower revenue that fell short of expectations.

In the broad market, declining issues were on par with advancers on the NYSE while advancers outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 700.