On the upside
The Wall Street Journal reported that American International Group's (NYSE: AIG) chief investment officer Win Neuger will relinquish his position as part of the insurer's restructuring plan.RBC Capital upgraded Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM).
On the downside
Although AspenBio Pharma (Nasdaq: APPY) reported upbeat preliminary clinical trial results for its blood based test to diagnose appendicitis, concerns were raised whether the FDA would approve the test.
Natus Medical (Nasdaq: BABY) reported higher fourth quarter as well as full year earnings but the results missed expectations.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) warned that its full year losses could be as much as $41.3 billion while the British government increased its stake in the troubled bank to 70% from 58%.
State Street (NYSE: STT) disappointed with sharply lower fourth quarter earnings and higher losses.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 13 points to 453.