On the upside
ABM Industries (NYSE: ABM) reported first quarter earnings that more than doubled prompting the company to lift its outlook for the first half of fiscal 2009.Although fourth quarter earnings dropped for Bruker (Nasdaq: BRKR), the results beat expectations.
PDL BioPharma (Nasdaq: PDLI) swung to a fourth quarter profit as revenue surged and declared two semiannual dividends.
On the downside
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cited the continuing drop in Gannett's (NYSE: GCI)advertising revenue for downgrading the newspaper publisher's corporate credit rating.
Delta Petroleum (Nasdaq: DPTR) blamed a significant impairment charge for widening fourth quarter losses.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 5 points to 363.