The nation's service sector expanded at a much greater pace than anticipated but the markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow losing 24 points to 11,164. Nasdaq fell 12 points to 2520.
On the upside
Shares of home beverage carbonation system maker SodaStream International (Nasdaq: SODA) surged on its market debut.
Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG) reversed year ago losses to post a better than expected profit for the third quarter and lifted its full year outlook.
Third quarter earnings for Magic Software (Nasdaq: MGIC) nearly tripled as revenue soared.
On the downside
The Food and Drug Administration approved Cadence Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: CADX) intravenous pain medication Ofirmev but the stock price dropped over concerns of a costly product launch.
AsiaInfo-Linkage (Nasdaq: ASIA) reported higher third quarter earnings but gross margin dropped.
Third quarter earnings slipped for Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) and the company lowered its fourth quarter guidance.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 3 points to 709.
