The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow slipping 32 points to 12,430 after Fitch warned that it may downgrade Italy, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia and Cyprus. Nasdaq added 4 points to 2707.
On the upside
Shares of JA Solar Holdings (Nasdaq: JASO), Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) all rose after Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shah wrote that solar panel demand is expected to be strong in the first half of the year.
A Seeking Alpha contributor listed MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) as one of five inexpensive technology stocks with great upside potential.
Lennar (NYSE: LEN) reported a sharp increase in new orders lifting rival homebuilder KB Home (NYSE: KBH).
On the downside
Robert W. Baird downgraded Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN) from an Outperform rating to Neutral rating.
Investors locked in profits on Questcor (Nasdaq: QCOR), whose stock price surged on Monday after reporting that sales of its multiple sclerosis treatment H.P. Acthar Gel doubled in the fourth quarter compared to last year.
Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) reported a drop in assets under management in December prompting a downgrade.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE while advancers edged out decliners by 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 765.
