The markets opened mixed with the Dow adding 18 points to 15,779 while Nasdaq lost 6 points 3911 on Veterans Day.
On the upside
Shire will pay a premium of approximately $4.2 billion to acquire ViroPharma (Nasdaq: VPHM).
Gogo (Nasdaq: GOGO) narrowed third quarter losses more than expected as revenue surged prompting the company to lift its full year forecast.
CollabRx (Nasdaq: CLRX) partnered with Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) to incorporate medical annotation for next generation sequencing test services for cancer.
On the downside
Zalicus (Nasdaq: ZLCS) will end development of its chronic pain treatment Z160 after disappointing results from two Phase 2 clinical trials.
Barclays Capital said that the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad Air does not use Cirrus Logic (NYSE: CRUS) amplifiers.
Denbury Resources (NYSE: DNR) will begin paying regular quarterly dividends in 2014 and increased its stock repurchase plan but the stock price fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues edged out decliners by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE while decliners outpaced advancers by 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 held steady at 1770.