The markets drifted to a lower close with the Dow losing 80 points to 6547 as economic uncertainty plagued investors. Nasdaq dropped 25 points to 1269.
On the upside
President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of stem cell research to send shares of StemCells (Nasdaq: STEM) and Geron (Nasdaq: GERN) soaring.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) and the Canadian Auto Workers union reached a tentative agreement to cut hourly wages by several dollars per hour and may be close to receiving billions of dollars of aid from the Canadian government.
Global Finance ranked U. S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) as the second safest bank in the U. S. and the 26th safest worldwide.
On the downside
GMX Resources (Nasdaq: GMXR) lowered its capital expenditure budget by $70 million and reduced its guidance.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) dimissed its president and chief operating officer William P. Weidner and replaced him with Michael A. Leven.
Shares of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) slipped after the movie Watchmen posted lower than expected ticket sales over the weekend.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 3 points to 348.
