Retreating crude oil prices weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow falling 64 points to 17,470. Nasdaq lost 5 points to 4,761.
On the upside
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: KERX) reported positive results from a Phase 3 study of ferric citrate to treat iron deficiency anemia in adults with stage 3-5 non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease.
Louisiana regulators approved the proposed sale of Cleco (NYSE: CNL) to an investor grip led by Macquarie.
An independent third party study reported that ContraVir Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: CTRV) hepatitis B treatment CMX157 outperformed Gilead's tenofovir alafenamide fumarate.
On the downside
SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE) may be close to filing for bankruptcy protection.
Falling crude oil prices weighed down shares of California Resources (NYSE: CRC).
Congressional leaders asked the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Health and Human Services to lower the price of Medivation's (Nasdaq: MDVN) prostate cancer drug Xtandi.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 lost 6 points to 2,031. Bitcoin fell $6 to $414.