Soaring oil prices along with Microsoft's withdrawal of its nearly $50 billion offer for Yahoo sent the markets down to a lower close with the Dow tumbling 89 points to 12,970. Nasdaq dropped 13 points to 2464.
On the upside
Last week, Vanda Pharmaceucticals (Nasdaq: VNDA) reported a smaller than expected loss for the first quarter prompting Caris & Co. analyst David Moskowitz to initiate coverage of the company with a Buy rating.Analysts upgraded Walter Industries (NYSE: WLT) and lifted their price targets for the company citing higher coal prices.
First quarter earnings for Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) more than tripled as coal prices climbed and exports increased.
On the downside
Although first quarter earnings for HMS Holdings (Nasdaq: HMSY) rose, the results fell short of estimates.
Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) blamed a drop in revenue from its consulting unit for second quarter earnings that missed expectations.
Higher expenses and lower than expected use of vessels weighed down fourth quarter earnings for Tidewater (NYSE: TDW) to fall short of expectations.In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 4 to 4 on the NYSE and by 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped a point to 724.
