u.s. stocks fall

NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday,
reversing strong gains from a day earlier, as a report on the
safety of some medical equipment hurt leading suppliers and Bed
Bath & Beyond Inc.'s shares tumbled on a brokerage
downgrade.

Boston Scientific Corp. and Dow component Johnson &
Johnson are the two main manufacturers of the
equipment, known as drug-coated stents. The Wall Street Journal
said hospitals are reducing the use of the products amid worry
about blood clots. [ID:nN22317972]

Weighing on the Nasdaq were shares of Bed Bath & Beyond.
Bear Stearns lowered its rating on the home goods retailer on
lower-than-expected earnings per share and operating margins,
MarketWatch reported on its Web site. [ID:nWNA9214]

"Bed, Bath & Beyond reported and gave guidance that wasn't
as strong as people expected, so we're seeing some weakness in
that stock today. That's the kind of thing that can weigh on
the market a little bit," said Joseph Stocke, portfolio manager
for StoneRidge Investment Partners LLC, in Malvern,
Pennsylvania.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 20.01
points, or 0.18 percent, at 11,059.45. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was down 2.04 points, or 0.16 percent, at
1,250.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 4.68
points, or 0.22 percent, at 2,136.52.

Johnson & Johnson shares were the top drag on the Dow and
S&P 500, falling 1.1 percent to $61.12 on the New York Stock
Exchange. Boston Scientific shares lost 4.6 percent to $18.24,
also on the NYSE.

Bed Bath & Beyond shares fell 4.3 percent to $35.28 on
Nasdaq, making it the second-heaviest decliner on the Nasdaq
100 index <.NDX>.

Shares of Jabil Circuit Inc. sank after the
announcement on Wednesday by the cell phone and computer
component maker of job cuts, plant closings and a
softer-than-expected fourth-quarter forecast. [ID:nN21284830] Jabil shares were down 5.2 percent on the NYSE at $24.15.

Oracle Corp. , which is expected to report
financial results after the closing bell, rose. Shares of the
world's largest database maker rose 0.8 percent to $14.64 on
the NYSE. It was expected to report fourth-quarter profit that
could beat the company's forecast, helped by strong revenue in
software licensing.

The Conference Board said its index of leading indicators
fell 0.6 percent to 137.9 in May. Economists had forecast a 0.4
percent decline.

U.S. first-time unemployment insurance claims came in at
308,000 for the week ended June 17, near economists' forecast
of 310,000, with little stock market reaction.

Better-than-expected earnings from investment bank Morgan
Stanley and parcel delivery service FedEx Corp.
on Wednesday sent the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> more than
1 percent higher and pushed the Dow to a two-week high.
((Reporting by Jennifer Coogan