The markets opened higher with the Dow climbing 84 points to 18,932 on corporate consolidations. Nasdaq added a point to 5,238.
On the upside
Corbus Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CRBP) reported positive results from a Phase 2 study of Resunab to treat diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis.
Siemens will pay a premium of approximately $4.5 billion in cash to acquire Mentor Graphics (Nasdaq: MENT).
Harman International (NYSE: HAR) will be acquired by Samsung Electronics for premium of approximately $8 billion in cash.
On the downside
The Food and Drug Administration issued a Complete Response Letter to Dynavax Technologies (Nasdaq: DVAX) for its Biologics License Application for HEPLISAV-B.
Resource Capital (NYSE: RSO) fell to a loss for the third quarter.
Profit taking weighed down shares of Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 held steady at 2,164. Bitcoin eased a fraction to $697.
