The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow adding 10 points to 13,188 as investors monitored earthquake activity in Japan. Nasdaq slipped 2 points to 3037.
On the upside
LSI (NYSE: LSI) cited strong sales for lifting its first quarter earnings and revenue guidance.
SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SCLN) reported sharply higher fourth quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations by a wide margin.
Fourth quarter earnings soared for Perma-Fix Environmental Services (Nasdaq: PESI) as revenue climbed.
On the downside
Zhongpin (Nasdaq: HOGS) warned of lower pork and hog prices in 2012 which will weigh down profit margins.
Falling gold prices weighed down shares of Goldcorp (NYSE: GG), Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC) and Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY).
Pacific Sunwear (Nasdaq: PSUN) widened fourth quarter losses as revenue fell.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 6 points to 825.
