A 0.2% drop in May retail sales sent the markets down to a lower close with the Dow tumbling 77 points to 12,496. Nasdaq fell 24 points to 2818.

On the upside

Kit Digital (Nasdaq: KITD) engaged in discussions with several potential suitors.

Mitek Systems (Nasdaq: MITK) presented in the William Blair Growth Stock Conference in Chicago yesterday.

National Business Daily reported that e-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) will operate the online sales of China's largest Internet company Tencent Holdings.

On the downside

Casey's General Stores (Nasdaq: CASY) reported higher fourth quarter earnings but the results fell short of analyst expectations.

A Seeking Alpha contributor recommended that shareholders of Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) sell their holdings in order to acquire shares of James River Coal (NYSE: JRCC).

Shares of LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) fell after Jefferies Group reported a slowdown in solar panel demand in Europe.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 9 points to 752.