Markets Down As Consumer Prices Slip
December 14, 2012 at 06:00 AM EST
The markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow losing 5 points to 13,165 as November consumer prices slipped 0.3%. Nasdaq fell 14 points to 2977.On the upsideBargain hunters lifted shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL), whose stock price fell yesterday on disappointing drug trial results.A European Union advisory panel recommended approval for Alexza Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: ALXA) agitation treatment Adasuve.Shares of AK Steel Holding (NYSE: AKS) and U. S. Steel (NYSE: X) rose on Fitch Ratings’ expectation for steel demand to continue growing slowly in 2013.On the downsideThe Food and Drug Administration granted early approval to Ariad Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: ARIA) chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment Iclusig but the stock price dropped. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) cut orders to component suppliers Cirrus Logic (NYSE: CRUS) and Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS).Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) warned that a slowdown in drilling will negatively impact its fourth quarter earnings.In the broad market, declining issues barely edged out advancers by a slim margin on the NYSE while advancers outpaced decliners by 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index slipped 2 points to 1416.
