Disappointing retail news weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow falling 50 points to 16,431. Nasdaq edged up a point to 4215.
On the upside
Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) closed a registered offering of $30 million and will host a January business update conference call today.
Sarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRPT) reported positive results through 120 weeks of a Phase IIb study of eteplirsen in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Apollo Global Management will acquire Chuck E. Cheese parent CEC Entertainment (NYSE: CEC) in a deal valued at approximately $1.3 billion including the assumption of debt.
On the downside
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) reported lower holiday sales due to strong competitive discounting and warned of a greater than expected drop in operating margins.
Chinese authorities will investigate skin care claims made by Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE: NUS).
J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) will close 33 stores and eliminate 2,000 jobs.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 10 to 9 on the NYSE while advancers barely edged out decliners by a slim margin on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 lost 3 points to 1844. Bitcoin lost $34.50 or 3.67% to $904.69.
