On the upside
Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq: HBAN) declared a quarterly dividend of a penny per common share payable April 1, 2010 to shareholders of record March 18, 2010 and a dividend of $21.25 per preferred share payable on April 15, 2010 to shareholders of record April 1, 2010.
Fourth quarter earnings for Knight Capital (Nasdaq: NITE) tumbled but the results topped analyst estimates.
Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) raised its outlook for the second quarter as sales in Asia surged while the cosmetics company cut expenses.
On the downside
Inspire Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISPH) reported that its dry eye disease treatment Prolacria failed a late stage clinical trial.
Arizona's proposed budget will phase out the use of private prisons outside of Arizona sending shares of Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE: CXW) tumbling. CCA's correctional facilities in Colorado and Oklahoma currently house inmates from Arizona.
Forbes.com suggested that Zale (NYSE: ZLC) may close more stores in 2010 although the jewelry retailer has not announced any additional closures to the 218 stores shuttered in 2009.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 9 points to 629.
