Lower Open On Fiscal Cliff Concerns

December 28, 2012 at 09:43 AM EST

The markets opened lower with the Dow dropping 84 points to 13,012 as the nation moved closer to the fiscal cliff. Nasdaq lost 11 points to 2974.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration granted Aeterna Zentaris (Nasdaq: AEZS) Special Protocol Assessment for a Phase 3 registration trial of its endometrial cancer treatment AEZS-108.
British publisher Pearson will invest $89.5 million in cash to acquire a 5% stake in Barnes & Noble's (NYSE: BKS) Nook Media business.
Magnum Hunter (NYSE: MHR) reported impressive production results from two new Eagle Ford Shale wells.
On the downside
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) vice president Michael Goddard departed the firm after 25 years to join Samsung Electronics. Seeking Alpha does not expect Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to recover until mid-2013 to late 2013.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will receive a lump sum payment of approximately $65 million from Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) to settle a patent dispute but the stock price fell.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index fell 8 points to 1409.