Retreating crude oil prices weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow dropping 70 points to 18,218. Nasdaq fell 24 points to 4,983.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration granted Orphan Drug Designation to Oncolytics Biotech's (Nasdaq: ONCY) primary peritoneal cancer treatment Reolysin.
McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) reversed year ago losses to post an unexpected profit for the fourth quarter as revenue soared.
Springleaf Holdings (NYSE: LEAF) will pay approximately $4.25 billion in cash to acquire Citigroup's (NYSE: C) OneMain Financial Holdings consumer finance unit.
On the downside
Goldman Sachs downgraded MannKind (Nasdaq: MNKD) from a Neutral rating to a Sell rating and slashed its price target from $6 to $3.
Cumulus Media (Nasdaq: CMLS) disappointed with sharply lower fourth quarter earnings that fell short of expectations.
Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARNA) widened losses for the fourth quarter.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 fell 9 points to 2107. Bitcoin lost $3 to $265.
Lower open as oil prices slide
March 03, 2015 at 09:42 AM EST