On the upside
Barclays (NYSE: BCS) reassured investors that the first two months of the year have been positive and that the British bank may sell its asset management unit that is based in San Francisco.The banking sector rally sparked by Fed chief Bernanke's comments that the recession may lift by the end of the year sent shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) and Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq: HBAN) soaring.
Technitrol Company (Nasdaq: TNL) Pulse announced the online release of its 2009 catalog with expanded photos and diagrams.
On the downside
4Kids Entertainment (NYSE: KDE) widended fourth quarter losses as licensing revenue and trading card sales both fell.
Analysts expect Sonic Automotive (NYSE: SAH) to report sharply lower fourth quarter earnings.
Fitch Ratings downgraded American Airlines parent AMR's (NYSE: AMR) debt rating further into junk status on Friday.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 3 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 7 points to 386.
