The markers opened mixed with the Dow losing 11 points to 9858 as employers added a disappointingly low number of jobs in June. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 2142.
On the upside
Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) will pay approximately $2.9 billion in cash and stock to acquire Abraxis BioScience (Nasdaq: ABII).
Spanish telephone services firm Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) increased its offer for Brazilian cellular company Vivo (NYSE: VIV) from 6.5 billion euros to 7.15 billion euros.
Boeing (NYSE: BA) will pay approximately $775 million in cash to acquire Argon ST (Nasdaq: STST).
On the downside
MELA Sciences (Nasdaq: MELA) priced its offering of 2.2 million common shares at $7.50 per share.
Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) reported lower third quarter earnings that fell short of expectations.
General Mills (NYSE: GIS) disappointed with sharply lower fourth quarter earnings as revenue fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 7 points to 623.
