It was a mixed close for the markets on a shortened holiday trading session as oil prices edged up while service sector activity contracted. The Dow climbed 73 points to 11,289 while Nasdaq dropped 6 points to 2245.
Ambac Financial's (NYSE: ABK) plan to buy back up to $50 million in common shares has been approved by the board of directors.
Shares of MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MBRK) recovered after yesterday's sell off that was sparked by the company's acceptance of $100 million investment from Equity Group Investments.
The state of Tennessee included rate increases in the renewal of its contract with health insurer Amerigroup (NYSE: AGP).
On the downside
Acme Packet (Nasdaq: APKT) blamed delays in client contracts for warning that second quarter results will fall short of estimates.As expected, Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG) and private equity firm Centerbridge Partners LP withdrew their $5.82 billion takeover offer of casino operator Penn National Gaming (Nasdaq: PENN) due to lengthy litigation.
Zions Bancorp (NYSE: ZION) successfully placed $45.7 million in non cumulative perpetual preferred stock.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 7 points to 666.
