Markets Open Flat As Consumer Sentiment Drops
The markets opened flat with the Dow adding a point to 11,145 as consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell. Nasdaq slipped 8 points to 2507.
On the upside
Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) will pay approximately $685 million to acquire Phase Forward (Nasdaq: PFWD).
The Food and Drug Administration will allow Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) to resume selling two of its implantable heart defibrillators.
STR Holdings (NYSE: STRI) will sell 7 million common shares at $18.75 per share through a secondary offering.
On the downside
Hansen Medical (Nasdaq: HNSN) priced its offering of 14 million common shares at $2.00 per share.
AEterna Zentaris (Nasdaq: AEZS) will sell $15 million worth of common stock and warrants to purchase common shares through registered direct offering.
Needham downgraded Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 720.
