Japan suffered another powerful earthquake but tsunami warnings were lifted after an hour and a half. The markets closed lower with the Dow losing 17 points to 12,409. Nasdaq slipped 3 points to 2796.
On the upside
Horizon Lines (NYSE: HRZ) will pay $1.77 million to settle a lawsuit with the Puerto Rican government.
Speculation that the U. S. government may stockpile rare earth metals lifted shares of Molycorp (NYSE: MCP).
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) reversed year ago losses to post a better than expected profit for the fourth quarter.
On the downside
Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) reported disappointing proceeds from the Meiyintang collection auction that fell far short of the presale estimate.
Qiao Xing Mobile (NYSE: QXM) adjourned its shareholder meeting to consider an offer to go private due to a lack of a quorum.
The government demanded that Ford (NYSE: F) extend the recall of its F-150 pickup truck by 6,000 vehicles.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 4 points to 849.
