A 1.4% drop in August pending home sales sent the markets tumbling to a sharply lower open with the Dow plunging 165 points to 16,149. Nasdaq plummeted 75 points to 4,611.
On the upside
Media General (NYSE: MEG) received an unsolicited acquisition offer from Nexstar Broadcasting Group (Nasdaq: NXST).
Ballard (Nasdaq: BLDP) will develop and commercialize a fuel cell engine to integrate into low floor trams manufactured by CRRC Qingdao Sifang Company.
Shares of Turtle Beach (Nasdaq: HEAR) continued rising.
On the downside
Verastem (Nasdaq: VSTM) stopped enrollment in a Phase 2 registration-directed, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of VS-6063 for patients with mesothelioma.
Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) warned of lower titanium dioxide selling prices and soft demand in the Asia Pacific region.
Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE: ETE) will acquire The Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) in a deal valued at approximately $37.7 billion.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 plunged 23 points to 1,907. Bitcoin gained $5 to $237.
Lower open as pending home sales drop
September 28, 2015 at 10:44 AM EDT
