Markets Retreat As Crude Oil Rises
The markets retreated during the midday but remained in positive territory with the Dow gaining 26 points to 12,420 as crude oil prices rose. Nasdaq added 2 points to 2793.
On the upside
General Maritime (NYSE: GMR) secured a $200 million credit facility from Oaktree Capital Management.
Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Rick Schafer upgraded Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) to an Outperform rating while DA Davidson analyst Aalok Shah upgraded the semiconductor to a Buy rating.
Biolase Technology (Nasdaq: BLTI) lifted its first quarter revenue guidance citing strong demand for its WaterLase iPlus all-tissue laser system.
On the downside
Columbia Laboratories' (Nasdaq: CBRX) and Watson Pharmaceuticals' (NYSE: WPI) Prochieve vaginal gel significantly reduced preterm births in pregnant women with a short cervix.
Charter Equity downgraded Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS) to a Market Underperform rating.
Weak international flight demand weighed down shares of American Airlines parent AMR (NYSE: AMR), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and United Continental (NYSE: UAL).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point to 851.
