The markets pared early morning gains but continued trading higher with the Dow rising 41 points to 10,492 after China announced that it will allow the yuan to appreciate. Nasdaq eased a fraction to 2309.
On the upside
Private equity firm Francisco Partners will acquire EF Johnson Technologies (Nasdaq: EFJI) at a higher price of $1.50 per share.
The appreciating yuan will increase travel to China lifting shares of Chinese travel services firm Ctrip.com (Nasdaq: CTRP).
China's decision to allow the yuan to appreciate will increase demand for materials lifting shares of Alcoa (NYSE: AA).
On the downside
Cypress Bioscience (Nasdaq: CYPB) will license BiolineRx's schizophrenia drug for the North American market in a $365 million deal but BiolineRx will retain the rights for the drug outside of North America.
Exelixis (Nasdaq: EXEL) could not reach a rights agreement to license its cancer treatment to Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY).
Corn Products International (NYSE: CPO) will acquire National Starch for approximately $1.3 billion.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 668.
