The markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow losing 22 points to 12,374 as European debt concerns overshadowed a gain in November factory orders. Nasdaq slipped 7 points to 2641.

On the upside

Autocar India editor Hormazd Sorabjee said that Bajaj Auto’s new four wheeler RE60 would be no threat to Tata Motors’ (NYSE: TTM) Nano.  

InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN) will report unaudited fourth quarter revenue from Esbriet sales in Germany tomorrow before market open. 

Bargain hunters lifted share of MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG), whose stock price tumbled yesterday when the company announced a $200 million contribution to its mortgage unit in order to continue writing policies.

On the downside

A Seeking Alpha contributor noted that short sellers have targeted BroadSoft (Nasdaq: BSFT) while hedge funds have been acquiring shares of the software provider for Internet protocol based networks.  

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Life Partners Holdings (Nasdaq: LPHI) for defrauding shareholders. 

Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS) reported sharply lower fourth quarter earnings and forecast current quarter results well below analyst expectations.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 747.