Stocks Open Lower Thursday

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are lower Thursday morning as health care companies take more losses. Software company Red Hat is falling after it reported weak results. Bed Bath & Beyond is down after posting weak sales, and other retailers are also sliding.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average shed 28 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,913 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,260. The Nasdaq composite dipped 10 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,461.

HAT IN HAND: Investors were disappointed with Red Hat after the open-source software company reported disappointing revenue in the third quarter and its fourth-quarter sales projections were also lower than analysts expected. The company also said its chief financial officer will leave in January to become CEO of another company. Red Hat sank $10.95, or 13.7 percent, to $68.84.

NAUGHTY LIST: The government put Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba back on a list of "notorious markets" because of fake goods on listed on its Taobao site. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Taobao sells large amounts of counterfeit goods and it is slow to respond when companies complain about knockoffs. Chinese regulators have also said Alibaba doesn't do enough to prevent fake items from being sold on its sites. Its stock lost $2.21, or 2.5 percent, to $87.04.

TAKING A BATH: Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond slumped after it reported weaker sales than analysts expected. Its stock gave up $2.23, or 4.9 percent, to $43.33.

SWEET GIG: Chocolate maker Hershey rose after it named Michele Buck its next president and CEO. She is currently Hershey's chief operating officer and will take the new job on March 1. Current CEO John Bilbrey said in October that he planned to retire as CEO, though he will remain chairman of the board. Hershey stock added $1.22, or 1.2 percent, to $104.40.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 29 cents to $52.78 a barrel in New York and Brent crude, the international standard, rose 33 cents to $54.79 a barrel in London. Energy companies made modest gains.

BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.56 percent from 2.54 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar edged up to 117.57 yen from 117.54 yen. The euro rose to $1.0455 from $1.0427.

OVERSEAS: Stocks in Europe were also quiet. The DAX in Germany lost 0.1 percent and France's CAC-40 fell less than 0.1 percent. In Britain, the FTSE 100 was little changed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1 percent lower and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.8 percent. The South Korean Kospi fell 0.1 percent.

(KA)