While sales of previously owned homes rose in November, sales remained below a healthy pace. The markets opened flat with the Dow adding 5 points to 11,538. Nasdaq eased a fraction to 2666.
On the upside
Hancock Holding (Nasdaq: HBHC) will acquire Whitney Holding (Nasdaq: WTNY) in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
First quarter earnings for Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) climbed to surpass analyst expectations as revenue rose.
Zoom Technologies (Nasdaq: ZOOM) raised its full year guidance to forecast record results earnings and revenue.
On the downside
Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARNA) will resubmit a new drug application for its weight loss treatment Iorcaserin to the Food and Drug Administration by the end of 2011.
EMCORE (Nasdaq: EMKR) disappointed with a loss for the fourth quarter.
Second quarter earnings for Nike (NYSE: NKE) rose to beat analyst expectations but the athletic footwear retailer reported future orders data that fell short of estimates.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by a slim margin on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks held steady at 790.
