The markets retreated to trade lower during the midday with the Dow losing 27 points to 12,692 as investors awaited debt negotiation news from Greece. Nasdaq slipped 5 points to 2780.
On the upside
An announcement by Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) this morning that it would cut natural gas production this year lifted shares of rival natural gas companies Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN), Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG), Range Resources (NYSE: RRC) and Forest Oil (NYSE: FST).
Analysts expect EQT (NYSE: EQT) to report sharply higher fourth quarter earnings on Thursday.
PetMed (Nasdaq: PETS) reported fourth quarter earnings and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations.
On the downside
Pan American Silver (Nasdaq: PAAS) will pay approximately $1.49 billion in cash and stock to acquire Minefinders.
Investors locked in profits on E-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG), whose stock price climbed last week on news that China’s economy continued expanding in the fourth quarter.
Hyperdynamics (NYSE: HDY) will suspend drilling at its Sabu-1 exploration well off the coast of Guinea for one week while equipment is repaired.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 9 to 7 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 2 points to 781.
