Despite a greater than expected gain in April retail sales, the markets opened lower with the Dow sinking 117 points to 10,665 over concerns that European spending cuts will halt the global economic recovery. Nasdaq plunged 41 points to 2353.
On the upside
Merit Medical Systems (Nasdaq: MMSI) will pay approximately $96 million to acquire BioSphere Medical (Nasdaq: BSMD).
First quarter earnings for Dillard's (NYSE: DDS) surged to beat expectations by a wide margin as margins improved.
Hauppauge (Nasdaq: HAUP) introduced its tuner board to stream live TV to Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
On the downside
Although Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) swung to a first quarter profit, the company forecast disappointing revenue for the current quarter.
CA (Nasdaq: CA) disappointed with fourth quarter results that missed expectations.
A Senate amendment lowering debit card fees weighed down shares of Visa (NYSE: V) and Master Card (NYSE: MA).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 8 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 12 points to 697.
