Lower Open As Oil Prices Soar
Escalating violence in Libya sent crude oil prices soaring to their highest level in more than two years to weigh the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 31 points to 12,226. Nasdaq slipped 8 points to 2789.
On the upside
Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq: SPRD) reported sharply higher fourth quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations and forecast first quarter results ahead of estimates.
Fourth quarter earnings more than doubled for ZST Digital Networks (Nasdaq: ZSTN) as revenue soared.
RAM Energy Resources (Nasdaq: RAME) announced the drilling of additional wells at its Mississippi Chat formation.
On the downside
Fourth quarter earnings rose for Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL) but the results fell short of expectations.
BioSante Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: BPAX) announced a registered direct offering of approximately 12.2 million common shares.Dynex Capital (NYSE: DX) priced its public offering of 8 million common shares at $10.35 per share.In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 824.
