Rising industrial production lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 37 points to 10,339. Nasdaq climbed 15 points to 2197.
On the upside
Potash (NYSE: POT) rejected BHP Billiton's (NYSE: BHP) $38.6 billion acquisition offer as inadequate.
Reynolds Group will pay approximately $6 billion in cash to acquire Pactiv (NYSE: PTV).
Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) offered approximately $123 million to acquire Osteotech (Nasdaq: OSTE).
On the downside
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) swung to a second quarter profit that topped analyst estimates but also announced the closure of 60 stores.
Teekay Offshore (NYSE: TOO) priced its follow-on public offering of 5.25 million common units at $22.15 per unit.
Delcath Systems (Nasdaq: DCTH) announced an offering of approximately 5.19 million common shares.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 7 points to 622.
