The markets extended its losses during the midday with the Dow falling 84 points to 12,489 as JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon testified before Congress about the company's $2 billion loss. Nasdaq dropped 25 points to 2817.

On the upside

Biostar Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: BSPM) and The Fourth Military Medical University will jointly conduct Phase I to III clinical trials for the skin disease treatment Viacom.

Shares of US Airways (NYSE: LCC) climbed after airlines announced sales prices for the slower fall travel season.

A Seeking Alpha contributor recommended a long position on Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) saying that home deliveries increased this year while cancellations have slipped.

On the downside

Constant Contact (Nasdaq: CTCT) paid approximately $65 million in cash to acquire privately held SinglePlatform and lowered its full year guidance as it invests in scaling SinglePlatform.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) warned that full year results will fall short of expectations.

Cobalt International Energy (NYSE: CIE) will plug and abandon its Ligurian #2 exploratory well in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 756.