The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow slipping 6 points to 16,917 while Nasdaq added 2 points to 4,324 even as corporate consolidations made headlines.
On the upside
Acquisition speculation lifted shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ACHN).
Analog Devices (Nasdaq: ADI) offered $2 billion to acquire Hittite Microwave (Nasdaq: HITT).
Acorn Energy (NYSE: ACFN) director Andy Sassine purchased 232,684 shares of company stock.
On the downside
Tyson (NYSE: TSN) won the bidding war for Hillshire Brands (NYSE: HSH) with a sweetened offer valued at approximately $8.55 billion including the assumption of debt.
A leaked email implied that Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERIC) may steal a contract from Neustar (NYSE: NSR).
Comverse (Nasdaq: CNSI) widened first quarter losses as revenue fell.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 eased a point to 1947. Bitcoin slipped $1.61 or 0.25% to $648.16.
