On the upside
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported earnings that beat expectations and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.
Shares of Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) nearly tripled in value after the biotechnology company announced positive safety results for its prostate cancer drug treatment.
The financial services sector continued to rally with shares of E*Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) extending yesterday's gains.
On the downside
A Stifel Nicolaus analyst downgraded American Express (NYSE: AXP) whose shares gave up some of its recent gains.
A Wall Street Journal report downplayed the possibility of a sale of eBay's Skype unit (Nasdaq: EBAY) to a private equity consortium.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin
of 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap
stocks lost 6 points to 461.