The impending Fed tapering weighed the markets down to a lower close with the Dow tumbling 72 points to 15,425. Nasdaq fell 9 points to 3660.

On the upside

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. acquired more than an 8% stake in Amedisys (Nasdaq: AMED).

Moody’s lifted its outlook on the coal industry from negative to stable sending shares of Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR), Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) and Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) higher. 

Performance Technologies (Nasdaq: PTIX) swung to a profit for the second quarter as revenue climbed.

On the downside

YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW) continued falling after reporting a second quarter loss on Wednesday.

America Movil (NYSE: AMX) offered approximately $9.6 billion to acquire the remaining 70% of KPN that it does not already own.

Ardour Capital downgraded SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE) from a Hold rating to a Buy rating.  

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 fell 6 points to 1691.