A drop in consumer confidence weighed the markets down to a lower close with the Dow falling 43 points to 13,197. Nasdaq slipped 2 points to 3120.
On the upside
Lennar (NYSE: LEN) reported lower first quarter earnings but the results beat expectations.
Shares of Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) climbed after rival Inner Mongolia Baotou Rare-Earth Hi-Tech reported sharply higher full year earnings.
Zhongpin (Nasdaq: HOGS) received an offer to be taken private by chairman and chief executive Xianfu Zhu.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF), whose stock price soared last week in anticipation of the release of "The Hunger Games."
Shares of Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR) continued falling after chief executive Anthony Petrello said in a regulatory filing yesterday that the company's investment in exploration and production businesses was a wrong decision.
Wedbush Securities analyst Corrina Freedman initiated coverage of Skechers (NYSE: SKX) with an Underperform rating.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 6 points to 839.
