A drop in the nation's trade deficit lifted the markets higher during the midday with the Dow climbing 98 points to 16,449. Nasdaq rose 14 points to 4,764.
On the upside
Pericom Semiconductor (Nasdaq: PSEM) will be acquired by Diodes (Nasdaq: DIOD) in an all cash deal valued at approximately $400 million.
Methode Electronics (NYSE: MEI) reported higher first quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations.
Lannett (NYSE: LCI) will pay approximately $1.23 billion to acquire Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Trevana (Nasdaq: TRVN).
Catalent (NYSE: CTLT) reported sharply higher fourth quarter earnings that topped estimates but the stock price fell.
Hulu's announcement that it would offer an ad-free streaming service sent shares of Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) tumbling.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 gained 12 points to 1,961. Bitcoin slipped $2 to $225.
Drop in trade deficit lifts markets
September 03, 2015 at 13:51 PM EDT