Escalating tensions with North Korea sent the markets down to a sharply lower open with the Dow tumbling 90 points to 21,718. Nasdaq dropped 54 points to 6,228.
On the upside
The Advisory Board (Nasdaq: ABCO) will sell its health care business Optum and its education business to Vista Equity Partners for a total of approximately $2.58 billion.
Wedbush upgraded Juno Therapeutics (Nasdaq: JUNO) from a Neutral rating to an Outperform rating.
Shares of Alnico Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM), AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) and Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) all rose as gold prices continued to advance.
On the downside
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) reported higher second quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations but the stock price fell.
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) agreed to sell a majority stake of its PT Freeport Indonesia copper mine to the Indonesian government in order to convert its Contract of Work into long-term operating rights.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a Refusal to File letter to Acorda Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: ACOR) for its new drug application for inbrija.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 plunged 13 points to 2,413. Bitcoin surged $194 to $4,571.
