Falling for a second straight day after the Federal Reserve's recent meeting raised concerns about how long quantitative easing efforts will continue, the S&P 500 Index (^GSPC -0.22%) lost 9.5 points, or 0.63%, to close at 1,502.
Leading the decline in the S&P Thursday was Joy Global (JOY), the largest producer of subterranean mining equipment, which slipped 3.8%. The decline comes a day after the stock spiked 2.7% on rumors that the company could be a takeover target. CNBC's Jim Cramer cautioned investors not to get too excited about potential M&A activity with the stock late yesterday though, possibly causing shareholders to reconsider their optimism.
Shares of semiconductor player Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 0.69%) slipped 3.7% Thursday, which isn't too shocking, considering that semiconductor businesses were down across the board. Nothing company-specific ailed AMD today, but the fact that the stock is more than twice as volatile as the market means that big swings like today's are far from rare. Despite the fall, if rumors that Sony's new PlayStation 4 will be using AMD's technology prove to be correct, the stock may end up making up some ground.
Lastly, engineering and information technology company SAIC (NYSE: SAI) fell markedly for a second straight day, declining 3.1%, after falling 4.1% yesterday. Both JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock yesterday, contributing to its heavy sell-off. With government spending cuts set to go into effect at the beginning of March, SAIC looks like it will take a hit as one of the top 10 contractors for the government.
