Stocks Make Small Change

And Chicago Mercantile(CME Quote) said fourth-quarter earnings were 87 cents a share, below analysts' consensus for 89 cents a share. Revenue was up 11.1% in the quarter. The stock declined $1.30, or 1.5%, to $86.

Ford (F Quote) stock fell 22 cents, or 1.6%, to $13.73, after the company said car sales plunged 14.4% in January. Total sales fell 5.2% to 230,036 vehicles.

January sales were also soft at General Motors (GM Quote) and DaimlerChrysler (DXC Quote). Sales at GM fell 2%, sending the stock down 85 cents, or 1.8%, to $47.85, while sales at DaimlerChrysler dropped 6.8% and the stock lost $1.17, or 2.5%, to $46.39.

In research, Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the semiconductor-equipment sector to neutral from attractive. And RBC Capital Markets upgraded Boston Scientific(BSX Quote) to outperform from sector perform. Boston Scientific stock rallied $1.25, or 3.1%, to $42.25.

Tomorrow, Northrop Grumman (NOC Quote), Oxford Health (OHP Quote), Pixar Animation (PIXR Quote) and Anheuser-Busch (BUD Quote), are all set to report quarterly earnings. In addition, apparel manufacturers, Polo Ralph Lauren (RL Quote) and Tommy Hilfiger (TOM Quote), will be on the tape.

In economics, the ISM services index for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. EST and is expected to improve to a reading of 60 from 58; this would make 10 straight months above the level of 50, indicative of an expansion. Also at 10:00 a.m. EST, factory orders are expected to improve by 0.2% in December after a 1.4% decline in the prior month.