Markets Open Lower Despite Merger And Acquisition Activity
The markets markets opened lower with the Dow losing 26 points to 10,834 despite merger and acquisition activity as investors remain concerned about the sluggish economy. Nasdaq slipped 6 points to 2375.
On the upside
AirTran Holdings (NYSE: AAI) will be acquired by Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) for approximately $1.04 billion in cash and stock.
Consumer goods company Unilever (NYSE: UL) will pay approximately $3.7 billion in cash to acquire beauty care products company Alberto Culver (NYSE: ACV).
Seattle Genetics (Nasdaq: SGEN) reported positive results from a clinical trial of its Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment SGN-35.
On the downside
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended approval for Hologic's (Nasdaq: HOLX) 3-D Selenia Digital Breast Tomosynthesis System for breast cancer detection but the stock price fell.
Bernstein Research analyst Pierre Ferragu downgraded Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to an Underperform rating and cut his price target for the mobile device maker to $6.67 citing strong competition from Android amidst a challenging market.
Wunderlich downgraded BPZ Resources (NYSE: BPZ).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point to 669.
