The markets closed flat with the Dow adding 5 points to 13,557 despite soaring housing starts as investors digested disappointing earnings. Nasdaq edged up 2 points to 3104.
On the upside
Sify Technologies (Nasdaq: SIFY) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the second quarter as revenue climbed.
Deerfield Capital acquired a 6.2% stake in InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN).
Shares of Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) climbed after a Barron's article said that coal companies were underpriced.
On the downside
Debtwire reported that Overseas Shipholding (NYSE: OSG) may have retained the services of Proskauer to restructure the company.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) reported lower third quarter earnings as revenue slipped and warned that the Food and Drug Administration may issue a warning letter about it's manufacturing facility in Sylmar, California.
Third quarter earnings tumbled for Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) to fall far short of analyst expectations even as revenue rose.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 7 points to 842.
Flat Close Over Disappointing Earnings
October 17, 2012 at 19:20 PM EDT
