An unexpected drop in March construction spending weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 46 points to 24,117. Nasdaq slipped 13 points to 7053.

On the upside

Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) completed the sale of Des Peres Hospital and affiliated operations in St. Louis.

Sabre (Nasdaq: SABR) entered a strategic relationship with Amazon Web Services to accelerate Sabre's migration to the cloud.

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) submitted a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency for risankizumab to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

On the downside

CommScope Holding (Nasdaq: COMM) reported flat earnings as revenue edged down.

Tapestry (NYSE: TPR) reported higher third quarter earnings and revenue but its Stuart Weitzman brand struggled.

Cognex (Nasdaq: CGNX) reported lower first quarter earnings.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 5 points to 2,643. Bitcoin plummeted $302 to $8,920.