Oil prices fell but the markets closed sharply lower with the Dow plummeting 117 points to 12,263 after Japan raised the radiation alert level at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant. Nasdaq tumbled 26 points to 2744.
On the upside
Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL) will pay approximately $350 million to acquire Gold Toe Moretz Holdings.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Schneider Electric offered $30 billion to acquire Tyco International (NYSE: TYC).
PPL (NYSE: PPL) priced its offering of 80 million common shares at $25.30 per share.
On the downside
Joe's Jeans (Nasdaq: JOEZ) disappointed with lower first quarter earnings as revenue slipped.
CompuCredit Holdings (NYSE: CCRT) announced that more than 38 million common shares were validly tendered in the company's tender offer to purchase up to 13.125 million common shares.
GMX Resources (NYSE: GMXR) reported record production in the first quarter of 6.0 Bcfe and forecast sharply higher second quarter and full year production.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 11 points to 822.
