On the upside
Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) announced plans to take eight companies public.
Ford (NYSE: F) increased its market share in Europe to more than 10% in September.
Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage of Forest Oil (Nasdaq: FST) with a Buy rating.
On the downside
Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AVNR) continued to fall after reporting mixed results for its multiple sclerosis treatment Zenvia.
Shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) and MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) fell after Macau said that it may impose age limits and cap the number of tables in the gambling mecca of China.
A CNBC.com article suggesting that video games are priced too high sent shares of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) tumbling.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost a point to 613.