Weak consumer spending in March weighed the markets down during the midday with the Dow losing 38 points to 13,189. Nasdaq fell 19 points to 3049.
On the upside
Warner Chilcott (Nasdaq: WCRX) said that it has engaged in discussions with potential suitors for a possible sale of the specialty pharmaceutical.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Monster Beverage (Nasdaq: MNST) may be acquired by Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO).
Conceptus (Nasdaq: CPTS) settled its patent infringement suit against Hologic (Nasdaq: HOLX) with Hologic agreeing to withdraw its Adiana Permanent Contraception System from the worldwide market by May 18, 2012.
On the downside
The Food and Drug Administration warned GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) on Friday that supplements containing DMAA may elevate blood pressure and could potentially lead to heart attack.
Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) reported sharply lower first quarter earnings that fell short of analyst expectations.
Ladenburg Thalmann downgraded Heckmann (NYSE: HEK) to a Sell rating.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 8 points to 817.
