A sharp drop in May retail sales weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow slipping 6 points to 21,322. Nasdaq eased a point to 6,219.
On the upside
Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN) named Paul Clancy to the position of chief financial officer.
H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations and increased its dividend.
Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) is in exclusive negotiations to be acquired by Zhonghong Zhuoye Group.
On the downside
Stifel downgraded Hawaiian Holdings (Nasdaq: HA) from a Hold rating to a Sell rating and slashed its price target from $60.00 to $40.00.
Profit taking weighed down shares of Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL).
Axiom analyst Gordon Johnson expects U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) to cut its forecast.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a slim margin on the NYSE and by nearly 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 2,438. Bitcoin tumbled $86 to $2602.
