The markets opened flat with the Dow rising 6 points to 12,043 as manufacturers in Japan said that continued power shortages will delay the return of normal production schedules. Nasdaq added a fraction to 2692.
On the upside
Shares of Prana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PRAN) continued climbing after announcing yesterday that its PBT2 repairs damage in brains affected by Alzheimer's disease.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) reported positive results from a Phase III clinical trial for its advanced skin cancer treatment ipilimumab.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) announced the grand opening of its St. Jude Medical Advanced Technology Center Asia Pacific in Beijing, China.
On the downside
Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) reported higher second quarter earnings that were in line with analyst expectations but the stock price fell. Investors were expecting results to beat estimates.
Morgan Joseph downgraded Towerstream (Nasdaq: TWER).
Investco Mortgage Capital (NYSE: IVR) will offer 19 million common shares.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point 811.
