On the upside
Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) and Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq: HBAN) surged after the regional banks applied to participate in the government capital infusion program.
B/E Aerospace (Nasdaq: BEAV) reported higher third quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates as sales in the company's corporate jet unit rose.
On the downside
CNA Financial (NYSE: CNA) blamed heavy investment losses for swinging to a third quarter loss prompting its majority shareholder Loews (NYSE: L) to announce a $1.25 billion cash infusion into the commercial insurer.
JPMorgan analyst Himanshu Patel downgraded auto parts supplier ArvinMeritor (Nasdaq: ARM) citing declining demand from European commercial truck companies.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 470.