Afternoon Market Update

Shares of H&R Block Inc HRB dropped after the company posted a loss in the latest quarter. The company's total revenue for the quarter also fell 1%. HRB shares were down about 7.4% following the results. US Energy stocks dropped after the Energy Information Administration report. According to the EIA, crude-oil inventories dropped 3.8 million barrels in the latest week, versus analysts' estimates of a fall of about 1.2 million. The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI) lost about 0.49%, while the NYSE Arca Natural Index (XNG) dropped about 0.89%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX) rose about 0.3%. Ball Corp BLL announced its plans to purchase European can, bottle maker Aerocan SAS from Barclays Private Equity for $292 million, including debt and other liabilities. The company is expecting the deal to close in the first quarter of 2011. BLL shares were down about 0.6%. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.