The nation's economy expanded at a tepid 0.5% pace in the first quarter to weigh the markets down to a lower open with the Dow falling 54 points to 17,9827 Nasdaq rose 7 points to 4,870.
On the upside
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) will pay a premium of approximately $25 billion in cash and stock to acquire St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ).
Textura (NYSE: TXTR) will be acquired by Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) for a premium of $663 million in cash.
Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) will acquire DreamWorks Animation (Nasdaq: DWA) for a premium of approximately $3.55 billion.
On the downside
GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) reported lower first quarter earnings that fell short of analyst expectations and forecast full year earnings below estimates.
Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN) reported lower first quarter earnings.
First quarter revenue for Silicon Graphics International (Nasdaq: SGI) miss estimates prompting the company to lower its full year forecast.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped a point to 2,093. Bitcoin lost $3 to $443.