The markets opened flat with the Dow adding a point to 10,304 after Japan reported slowing economic growth that fell short of expectations. Nasdaq rose 11 points to 2185.
On the upside
Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) will pay approximately $1.15 billion in cash to acquire 3Par (NYSE: PAR).
ResCare (Nasdaq: RSCR) received an acquisition offer from private equity firm Onex for $12.60 per share.
The Ministry of Health in China announced that no evidence has been found linking Synutra International's (Nasdaq: SYUT) infant milk powder with premature development in infants.
Shares of Brazilian airliner TAM (NYSE: TAM) continued to soar after announcing a merger with Chilean airliner LAN (NYSE: LFL).
On the downside
The Department of Education reported that for-profit educators Corinthian Colleges (Nasdaq: COCO), ITT Educational Services (NYSE: ITT) and Strayer Education (Nasdaq: STRA) all had a student loan repayment rates below 35%. The schools may be ineligible for federal financial aid funds under proposed rules.
Threats by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to block Research in Motion's BlackBerry (Nasdaq: RIMM) smartphone email and messaging services continued to weigh down shares of the Canadian company.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 6 points to 615.
