Stocks Like Fed's New Language

Altria(MO Quote) finished up 2.1% after Goldman Sachs said it expects the Illinois Supreme Court to decertify a ruling that the company's Philip Morris unit led consumers to believe its light cigarettes were less harmful than regular ones. The decision would dismiss the original ruling of $10 billion in damages. Altria rose $1.52 to $74.03.

Among ratings moves, Banc of America downgraded Sirius Satellite Radio(SIRI Quote) to sell from neutral, citing valuation relative to the company's rival XM Satellite Radio(XMSR Quote). Sirius fell 45 cents, or 6%, to $7.01.

Another big call came from Citigroup, which said it expects IBM's(IBM Quote) fourth-quarter, full-year 2006 and 2007 financial results to come in below consensus estimates. IBM was down $2.25, or 2.6%, to close at $83.71.

Overseas markets were mostly higher with London's FTSE 100 up 0.1% to 5507 and Germany's Xetra DAX gaining 0.2% at 5310. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei added 0.3% overnight to 15,779, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.3% to 14,943.