On the upside
Best Buy (Nasdaq: BBUY) posted lower 4th quarter profits, but revenues rose 10% which beat expectations for the world's largest consumer electronics retail chain.
ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG) reported lower profits due to rising commodity prices, but revenues also rose.
Shares of Red Hat (NYSE: RHAT) surged after the open source software provider posted 4th quarter profits that topped estimates.
On the downside
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled plans to give the federal government more power to regulate hedge funds. The financial services sector edged lower with shares of Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) losing ground.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MTU) announced plans to merge their Japanese-based brokerage units by next spring.
Shares of CKE Restaurants (NYSE: CKR) drifted lower after the company which operates Hardee's and Carl's Jr. fast-food restaurants posted lower revenues and a slim profit.
In
the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin
of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000
which tracks small cap stocks added 5 points to 431.