The markets recovered during the midday to trade higher with the Dow gaining 58 points to 20,471. Nasdaq rose 10 points to 5,774.
Health insurers Aetna and Humana have abandoned their plans to merge after a federal judge said last month that the deal would have stifled competition. The termination of the $34 billion deal triggered a $1 billion breakup payment to Humana from Aetna. The collapse of the Aetna-Humana deal has now raised concerns about Anthem's proposed $54 billion offer to buy Cigna.
General Motors has engaged in advanced discussions to sell its money-losing European business to PSA Group. The French automaker owns the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands. Buying GM's European brands will expand PSA's European passenger car market share to 16.3%.
Executives from Best Buy, Target, JC Penney, AutoZone, Gap and other major retailers will meet with the House Ways and Means Committee chair Kevin Brady to discuss a proposed import tax. The retailers say that a border-adjustment tax will increase the price of products and negatively impact corporate profits. The executives will advocate for pro-growth policies that encourage job creation.
In the broad market, declining issues edged out advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE while advancers outpaced decliners by more than 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index gained 6 points to 2,334. Bitcoin gained $9 to $1,000.
