August consumer sentiment fell to weigh the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 34 points to 14,806. Nasdaq fell 18 points to 3601.
On the upside
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) swung to a better than expected profit for the second quarter as revenue climbed.
Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production will pay approximately $3.1 billion in cash to acquire a 33% stake in Apache's (NYSE: APA) Egyptian oil and gas business.
ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) narrowed losses for the second quarter as revenue soared.
On the downside
OmniVision Technologies (Nasdaq: OVTI) reported sharply higher first quarter earnings but revenue fell short of expectations prompting downgrades.
Second quarter earnings slipped for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE: KKD) to fall short of expectations.
JPMorgan downgraded e-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) from a Neutral rating to an Underweight rating.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 3 points to 1634.