The markets opened higher with the Dow rising 34 points to 12,428 ahead of the European Central Bank's interest rate decision tomorrow. Nasdaq climbed 14 points to 2806.
On the upside
LabCorp (NYSE: LH) will acquire Orchid Cellmark (Nasdaq: ORCH) in a deal valued at approximately $85.4 million.
Dot Hill Systems (Nasdaq: HILL) will launch its high-performance video post-production solution for Apple users at the NAB Show this weekend.
Advanced Battery Technologies (Nasdaq: ABAT) responded to fraud allegations made by short seller Variant View Research.
On the downside
American Superconductor (Nasdaq: AMSC) warned of fourth quarter losses after client Sinovel Wind Group refused to accept contracted shipments of products prompting downgrades.
Monsanto (NYSE: MON) reported higher second quarter earnings but revenue fell short of expectations and the company forecast full year results below estimates.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: OPTR) partnered with Cubist Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CBST) to jointly market Optimer's infection based diarrhea treatment Dificid.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks gained 5 points to 858.
