The markets opened sharply lower on renewed worries of higher oil prices and weak corporate earnings. The Dow tumbled 170 points to 11,641 while Nasdaq surrendered 50 points to 2350.

On the upside

Photon Dynamics (Nasdaq: PHTN) received a $290 million offer in a bid by Israel's Orbotech (Nasdaq: ORBK) to expand its flat-panel display business.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) reportedly sold out on its line of Instinct handsets made by Samsung.

The gold mining sector soared along with the price of gold. Shares of Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) were snapped up by investors.

On the downside

Software giant Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) posted profits that beat estimates, but lowered its guidance due to softness in the U.S. economy.

Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) which makes the popular Blackberry mobile device reported earnings and revenues that doubled, but offered a modest forecast for the current quarter.

Shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) plunged to a 30-year low after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the car maker.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 8 points to 707.