The markets opened sharply lower with the Dow tumbling 94 points 12,713 after the Institute for Supply Management reported that its service sector index dropped to 52.8 in April. Nasdaq fell 9 points to 2831.
On the upside
Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) will pay a premium of approximately $4.9 billion in cash to acquire Varian Semiconductor Associates (Nasdaq: VSEA).
MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM) narrowed first quarter losses more than expected as revenue rose.
Second quarter earnings more than doubled for Green Mountain Grocers (Nasdaq: GMCR) to surpass analyst expectations.
On the downside
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) reported higher first quarter earnings but the results fell far short of analyst expectations.
Sonus Networks (Nasdaq: SONS) widened first quarter losses.
Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) blamed higher expenses for an unexpected loss for the first quarter.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 7 points to 836.
