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 Indexes had swung between gains and losses in the first half of the
session, as the lack of major corporate earnings or market-affecting
data kept trading directionless, but they closed near the day's
lows.
Shares of retailers American Eagle and Urban Outfitters fell sharply
after disappointing outlooks.
"We just hit highs on Friday so people have a lot of profits here.
They're just taking some money off the table," said Frank Lesh,
futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago. The
selling "is orderly, there is no rush for the exits," he said.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 67.43 points or 0.41
percent, to 16,351.25, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 9.54 points or 0.51
percent, to 1,867.63 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 27.26
points or 0.63 percent, to 4,307.188.
Federal prosecutors in New York are examining whether General Motors
<GM.N> is criminally liable for failing to properly disclose
problems in some vehicles that were linked to 13 deaths and led to a
recall last month, according to a source familiar with the
investigation. GM shares fell 5.1 percent to $35.18.
Shares of fuel cell maker Plug Power <PLUG.O> plunged 41.5 percent
to $6.03 after short-seller Citron Research said the fair value of
the stock was 50 cents. Shares of other fuel cell makers fell, with
Fuel Cell Energy <FCEL.O> down 16.5 percent to $3.28, Ballard Power
Systems <BLDP.O> off 25.9 percent to $5.10 and Hydrogenics Corp <HYGS.O>
down 14.7 percent.
Shares in the sector have been on a tear, with Plug Power up 940
percent since the end of October.
Urban Outfitters <URBN.O> dropped 4.3 percent to $35.91 after it
reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales and said it was "very
cautious" on its current quarter. American Eagle Outfitters <AEO.N>
slumped 7.8 percent to $13.10 after it forecast earnings for the
current quarter that were short of expectations.
The S&P retail index <.SPXRT> dropped 0.66 percent.
Men's Wearhouse <MW.N> said it would acquire rival Jos. A. Bank
Clothiers <JOSB.O> for about $1.8 billion, ending a five-month saga
that started with Jos. A. Bank offering to buy its larger menswear
rival. Men's Wearhouse shares rose 4.7 percent to $57.14 and Jos. A.
Bank added 3.9 percent to $64.22.
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"M&A activity has been picking up, and it tends to offer a halo
effect on sectors and subsectors involved," said Quincy Krosby,
market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey,
pointing to broad support to the market of late coming from mergers
and acquisitions.
Boyd Gaming Corp <BYD.N> jumped 16.5 percent to $13.75 a day
after hedge fund Elliott International disclosed a 4.99 percent
stake in the gaming company.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold <FCX.N> fell 2.1 percent, bringing
the decline in the past four sessions to 9.4 percent. Copper prices
on the London Metal Exchange hit their lowest level since July 2010
under pressure from rising inventories of the metal and slow demand.
Myriad Genetics Inc <MYGN.O> lost 8.3 percent to $34.60. The
diagnostics company said a U.S. court denied a motion that would
have stopped rival Ambry Genetics Corp from selling a similar
version of Myriad's cancer test.
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co <LJPC.O> surged 64.8 percent to $17.96
after the company said its lead experimental drug to treat chronic
kidney disease met the main goal of improving kidney function in a
mid-stage study.
About 6.9 billion shares traded in U.S. exchanges, according to the
latest available data from BATS Global Markets, slightly above the
6.8 billion daily average so far this month.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by about 2 to 1 on the NYSE and on
the Nasdaq more than 8 issues fell for every 3 that rose.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by
Nick Zieminski)
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