Investors contained their appetite for stocks as they digested higher jobless claims and the first batch of holiday retail sales numbers. The Dow dropped 25 points to 12,020 while
Nasdaq rose 5 points to close the session at 2626.
On the upside
Shares of Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) rose on hopes of possible buyout offer from a number of private equity firms.
Western Refining (NYSE: WNR) announced plans to sell unused facilities and crude oil pipelines to Plains All American Pipeline LP for $220 million.
Shares of Coffee Holding (NYSE: JVA) rose after the coffee distribution company decided to invest in an instant coffee venture.
On the downside
Kohl's Corp. (NYSE:KSS) posted November sales declining 6.2% which missed analysts' projections of a 2.1% gain.
Investors felt the sting as Scorpio Tankers (Nasdaq: STNG) offered 7 million shares at $5.50 each.
Shares of Lululemon Athletica (Nasdaq: LULU) lost their luster after the apparel retailer announced positive earnings, but missed revenue expectations.
In
the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by a margin of nearly 7 to 4 on Nasdaq.
The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks closed at 730, down 6 points.
