The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow losing 55 points to 8523 while Nasdaq gained 5 points to 1634 as jobless claims fell more than expected and consumer prices held steady.
On the upside
Third quarter earnings for Steel Dynamics (Nasdaq: STLD) surged despite sharply lower prices as revenue more than doubled.
Nokia (Nasdaq: NOK) announced that it will pay Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) $2.29 billion as part of a 15-year patent agreement.
Shares of Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) rose after Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer said that acquiring Yahoo would make economic sense for both companies.
On the downside
FalconStor Software (Nasdaq: FALC) blamed challenging economic conditions for slashing its outlook for the third quarter as well as the full year.
Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) widened third quarter losses due to hefty write-downs. The investment bank will be acquired by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 9 to 1 on the NYSE, but were edged out by a slim margin on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 504.
