The markets trimmed some of its losses during the midday but continued to trade in negative territory with the Dow slipping 6 points to 11,378 as oil prices rebounded. Nasdaq lost 4 points to 2291.

On the upside

UBS upgraded Steel Dynamics (Nasdaq: STLD) and maintained a $41 price on the steel products company.

American Oriental Bioengineering (NYSE: AOB) priced its private placement offering of senior convertible notes.

SGX Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SGXP) will be acquired by Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) for approximately $64 million.

On the downside

Investment Technology Group (NYSE: ITG) announced that trading volume rose in June from year ago levels after a drop in May.

Mattson Technology (Nasdaq: MTSN) blamed a weak semiconductor sector for lowering its outlook for the second quarter.

A rebound in oil prices weighed down shares of Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA).

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 4 on the NYSE while decliners barely edged out advancers on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 682