The markets recovered from early morning losses to close modestly lower with the Dow losing 12 points to 15,294 despite a sharp drop in the Nikkei as upbeat earnings and rising new home sales lifted investor sentiment. Nasdaq slipped 3 points to 3459.
On the upside
Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) reported lower first quarter earnings but the results were better than expected.
Pacific Sunwear (Nasdaq: PSUN) reported a smaller than expected loss for the first quarter revenue rose to top estimates.
Shares of Global Brass and Copper (NYSE: BRSS) surged in its market debut.
On the downside
Profit taking sank shares of Cleantech Solutions (Nasdaq: CLNT).
Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK) updated investors on its operations in the Utica/Point Pleasant play.
DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS) widened first quarter losses even as revenue rose.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE while advancers edged out decliners by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index slipped 4 points to 1650.
