A surge in jobless claims sent the markets down to a lower open with the Dow tumbling 107 points to 10,307. Nasdaq climbed 21 points to 2193.
On the upside
Intel (NYSE: INTC) will pay approximately $7.68 billion to acquire computer security technology company McAfee (NYSE: MFE).
Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) successfully completed compatibility testing between its cloud-based medical imaging archiving solution Symantec Health and Siemens Healthcare's picture archiving and communication system.
NewAlliance Bancshares (NYSE: NAL) will merge with First Niagara Financial Group (Nasdaq: FNFG) in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
On the downside
Brocade Communications Systems (Nasdaq: BRCD) swung to a third quarter profit but revenue fell short of estimates and the company cut its full year revenue outlook.
Second quarter earnings rose for GameStop (NYSE: GME) but the results missed expectations and the video game retailer forecast third quarter earnings below estimates.
BSD Medical (Nasdaq: BSDM) announced a registered direct offering of more than 1.2 million common shares and warrants for nearly 1 million shares.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 10 points to 617.
