Rising oil prices tempered enthusiasm for a $5 billion investment in Washington Mutual by private equity firms. The markets closed mixed with the Dow adding 3 points to 12,612 while Nasdaq lost 6 points to 2365.
On the upside
Pluristem Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PSTI) reported significant improvement in rats injected with the biotechnology company's experimental stroke treatment.
Leerink Swann analyst William Tanner expects sales for Elan's (NYSE: ELN) Tysabri to be better than expected as the multple sclerosis drug becomes a major treatment choice.
Citigroup lifted its price target for Temple-Inland (NYSE: TIN) and upgraded the company on expectations that containerboard and wood products prices will increase.
On the downside
Ev3 (Nasdaq: EVVV) announced the resignation of chief executive James M. Corbett and lowered its first quarter revenue outlook.
Credit Suisse downgraded Tesoro (NYSE: TSO).
Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar downgraded BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) and removed the company from a recommended stocks list due to falling sales and a challenging economic environment.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 4 on the NYSE while decliners barely edged out advancers on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped a point to 713.
