The markets opened mixed with the Dow losing 25 points to 16,220. Nasdaq rose 6 points to 4086.
On the upside
Alkermes (Nasdaq: ALKS) reported positive results from a late stage clinical trial of its schizophrenia treatment aripiprazole lauroxil and will submit the drug to the Food and Drug Administration for approval in the third quarter.
Bloomberg reported that Ctrip.com (Nasdaq: CTRP) engaged in discussions for a possible merger with Baidu's (Nasdaq: BIDU) Qunar.
Chinese authorities approved the sale of Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) mobile phone business to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
On the downside
Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT) increased its public offering to 12 million common shares and priced the offering at the discounted price of $8.62 per share.
Gigamon (NYSE: GIMO) reported lower preliminary first quarter revenue prompting a downgrade.
Spectranetics (Nasdaq: SPNC) warned of wider losses for the first quarter.
In the broad market, declining issues were on par with advancers on the NYSE while advancers outpaced decliners by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 eased a fraction to 1844. Bitcoin edged up $1.99 or 0.44% to $450.24.
