New home construction dropped to its lowest level this year to weigh the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 38 points to 10,365. Nasdaq slipped 8 points to 2297.
On the upside
Covidien (NYSE: COV) will pay approximately $300 million to acquire Somanetics (Nasdaq: SMTS).
Abbott Laboatories (NYSE: ABT) will pay Neurocrine Biosciences (Nasdaq: NBIX) $75 million upfront to develop and market Neurocrine's endometriosis treatment Elagolix.
Boston Private Financial Holdings (Nasdaq: BPFH) priced its offering of 4.1 million common shares at $6.10 per share to raise approximately $25 million.
On the downside
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange for falling below the minimum average closing price.
Curis' (Nasdaq: CRIS) colon cancer drug failed a midstage clinical trial.
Aeterna Zentaris (Nasdaq: AEZS) will raise $12.1 million through a registered direct offering.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 5 points to 663.
