The markets opened higher with the Dow rising 15 points to 15,631 ahead of the Commerce Department's factory orders report. Nasdaq gained 7 points 3929.
On the upside
Linn Energy (Nasdaq: LINE) increased its bid to acquire Berry Petroleum (NYSE: BRY) to $4.9 billion including the assumption of debt from $4.3 billion with debt.
First quarter earnings slipped for Extreme Networks (Nasdaq: EXTR) but the results were better than expected.
Goldman Sachs upgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) from a Neutral rating to a Buy rating.
On the downside
BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) will no longer sell itself and chief executive Thorstein Heins will leave the beleaguered smartphone company.
Swiss lawmakers may impose higher capital requirements for their banks UBS (Nasdaq: UBS) and Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) than international standards.
Penn National Gaming (Nasdaq: PENN) closed its debt financings.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 added a point to 1763.
