On the upside
Shares of antiviral makers Novavax (Nasdaq: NVAX) and BioCryst Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: BCRX) surged as the swine flu continued to spread.
PURE Bioscience (Nasdaq: PURE) announced that its PureGreen24 antimicrobial treatment meets CDC recommendations for treating patients with swine flu.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) will discontinue its Pontiac brand of cars and eliminate 21,000 jobs.
On the downside
B/E Aerospace (Nasdaq: BEAV) blamed the slumping economy for slashing its full year earnings and revenue guidance.
Shares of United Airlines parent UAL (Nasdaq: UAUA) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL)tumbled over concerns that the swine flu outbreak will drastically curtail travel plans.
Orient-Express Hotels (NYSE: OEH) warned that it will report a first quarter loss of $14.6 million.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 6 to 3 on the NYSE and by 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 5 points to 473.
