EnCana rose after temporarily being halted on news of a joint venture with Phoenix Duvernay Gas (Phoenix), a wholly owned subsidiary of PetroChina to develop Encana's Duvernay land holdings in Alberta, Canada.
CVS Caremark gained after the pharmacy chain affirmed its full-year 2012 guidance and outlined guidance for 2013. CVS also raised its quarterly dividend by 38.5 percent to $0.225 or, a yield of 1.9 percent.
Philip Falcone's Harbinger Group tumbled on news that the firm priced an offering of 20 million shares at $7.50 a share, well below Wednesday's closing price.
Gold stocks including Newmont Mining, Barrick Mining, Goldcorp and Randgold Resources were lower as the precious metal's price fell.
RF Micro Devices touched an eight-month high after Barclays boosted its rating on the chipmaker's stock to "overweight" and raised its price target to $6 a share.
And Monster Beverage fell, but no news was immediately available on the beverage maker.
(Read More: See CNBC's Market Insider Blog)
—By CNBC's Lori Spechler
Questions? Comments? Email us at marketinsider@cnbc.com