General Electric (GE) falls 1.23 to 16.16 after S&P's Ratings Services revises outlook on GE and units, including General Electric Capital Corp., to negative from stable, affirms AAA long-term and A-1+ short-term credit ratings. S&P Ratings said its negative outlook is based partly on concerns regarding General Electric Capital Corp.'s future performance and funding, and that fundamentals-based earnings and cash flow could decline sufficiently during the next 2 years to warrant a downgrade.
Certain chip stocks fall after Jefferies analysts Adam Benjamin and Blayne Curtis downgrade Texas Instruments (TXN), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Cypress Semiconductor (CY), Intersil (ISIL), National Semiconductor (NSM), and Silicon Image (SIMG) to underperform from hold; Intel (INTC) to underperform from buy; Atheros Communications (ATHR), Conexant Systems (CNXT), Intellon (ITLN) and Mellanox Technologies (MLNX) to hold from buy.
