Fitch Ratings downgraded the debt rating for Italy and Spain to weigh the markets down during the midday with the Dow losing 17 points to 11,105. Nasdaq dropped 22 points to 2484.
On the upside
Avis Budget Group (Nasdaq: CAR) chairman, president and chief executive officer Ronald L. Nelson purchased 50,000 shares of company stock.
Wunderlich upgraded Quantum (NYSE: QTM) to a Buy rating.
A Michigan jury determined that IPG Photonics (Nasdaq: IPGP) did not infringe on a patent owned by IMRA America.
On the downside
Sprint (NYSE: S) will stop using Clearwire's (Nasdaq: CLWR) 4G network beginning in 2013 once the company launches its own 4G network next year.
Shares of Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A) tumbled after fellow medical instrument maker Illumina (NYSE: ILMN) warned of an earnings shortfall.
MetroPCS (Nasdaq: PCS) will not offer tablets until LTE capable tablets increase their market share.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 18 points to 655.
