LONDON (ShareCast) - Wall Street ended the day with moderate losses after hitting 2012 highs on Monday.

The big news was the publication of the minutes of the March 14th Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the body which sets interest rates for the US central bank.

The minutes appeared to imply the committee had become less inclined to boost the economy with so called quantitative easing, or printing money and buying government bonds. For investors this was a signal to sell.

ECONOMY

US factory orders in March were slightly lower than expected, rising 1.3% (estimate: 1 5%).

Analysts at Barclays said the figure was consistent "with modest growth of inventories in the first quarter," and is "neutral to our forecast that GDP will grow by 2% in Q1."

BUSINESS

Brewer Molson Coors has agreed to buy European rival StarBev, best known for its Staropramen brew, for $3.5bn.

Piper Jaffray has raised its price target on Apple, the consumer electronics titan, to $910. Constellation Brands, the world's largest wine company, also received a boost from broker commentary; Goldman Sachs raised the stock's rating from "neutral" to "buy". Meanwhile, clothing seller Urban Outfitters was wanted after Citi changed its view on the stock, upgrading it to "neutral" from "sell".

Film streaming firm Netflix headed south, after Barclays downgraded the shares from "overweight" to "equal weight".

Conn's, the consumer electronics retailer, surged higher after it raised its earnings guidance for 2013 to at least $1.20 per share.

Gene-mapping tools maker Illumina edged higher after it rejected an increased bid from European drugs giant Roche. In similar vein, door to door cosmetics peddler Avon Products rejected what it described as an "opportunistic" bid from fragrance maker, Coty, only Avon's shares tended lower.

Blackberry smartphone maker Research In Motion had another bad day on the market, plunging after it rolled out the latest version of its Blackberry Mobile Fusion platform, which enables corporate Blackberry networks to manage phones using the competing Apple and Android operating systems. The move coincided with more market data indicating Blackberry is rapidly losing market share in the US smartphone market.

SECTORS

The biggest gains were recorded in tourism (+1.7%) and airlines (+1.6%). The greatest losses were in breweries (-5%) and precious metals (-3.7%).

OTHER MARKETS

May futures contracts on a barrel of West Texas crude fell 0.88%, to $104.70 on the Nymex.

The yield on 10 year treasury bonds rose to 2.297%.

The euro fell 0.66%, to $1.3233.

S&P 500 - Risers
Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) $57.67 +3.91%
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $743.62 +3.28%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $80.29 +2.67%
H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $17.12 +2.64%
Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) $19.92 +2.57%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $30.22 +2.30%
Constellation Brands Inc. Class A (STZ) $24.50 +2.30%

S&P 500 - Fallers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $22.60 -7.87%
Supervalu Inc. (SVU) $5.30 -6.36%
Molson Coors Brewing Co. Class B (TAP) $43.18 -5.43%
Alpha Natural Res (ANR) $14.69 -5.04%
Coach Inc. (COH) $75.48 -3.80%
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $37.80 -3.69%
Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) $21.92 -3.56%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $25.40 -3.53%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $50.34 -3.40%
CBRE Group Inc (CBG) $19.50 -3.32%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $99.40 +1.06%
American Express Co. (AXP) $58.39 +0.66%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $9.49 -1.96%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $23.45 -1.80%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.82 -1.75%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $45.42 -1.54%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) $57.67 +3.91%
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $743.62 +3.28%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $41.80 +3.26%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $80.29 +2.67%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $30.22 +2.30%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $68.06 +2.05%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $629.32 +1.73%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $51.98 +1.19%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $13.01 -9.46%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $22.60 -7.87%
Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) $37.80 -3.69%
Nll Holdings Inc. (NIHD) $17.72 -2.96%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $53.37 -2.34%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $38.56 -2.13%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $12.24 -2.08%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $15.18 -1.78%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $38.21 -1.75%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.82 -1.75%

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE