The markets opened mixed with the Dow rising 15 points to 15,900 while Nasdaq slipped 5 points to 4024 ahead of the Federal Reserve’s tapering decision.
On the upside
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. will acquire KKR Financial (NYSE: KKR) in an all stock deal valued at approximately $2.6 billion.
Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) will pay approximately $2 billion in cash to purchase AT&T’s (NYSE: T) Connecticut wireline operations.
Biodel (Nasdaq: BIOD) secured the worldwide exclusive rights to BD’s BD Uniject SCF(™) Disposable Auto-Disable Injection System.
On the downside
Targacept (Nasdaq: TRGT) halted development of its schizophrenia treatment TC-5619 after disappointing results from a Phase 2b clinical trial.
Brean Capital initiated coverage of Rockwell Medical (Nasdaq: RMTI) with a Sell rating.
FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL) narrowed fourth quarter losses but the results fell short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 1784. Bitcoin dropped $51.46 or 6.54% to $735.10.
