Jobless Claims Fall But Markets Open Lower
November 08, 2012 at 01:45 AM EST
First time applications for unemployment benefits fell last week but the markets opened lower with the Dow slipping 18 points to 12,913. Nasdaq lost 4 points to 2932.On the upsideSun Pharmaceutical Industries will pay a premium of $8 per share in cash to acquire Dusa Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: DUSA) .SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD) shareholder TPG-Axon Capital Management asked the board of directors to fire chief executive Tom Ward and sell the company.benzinga.com reported that Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL) received an acquisition offer from Statoil. On the downsideCatalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (Nasdaq: CPRX) reported disappointing results from a Phase II(b) clinical trial of its cocaine addiction treatment CPP-109.BioCryst (Nasdaq: BCRX) terminated a Phase 3 trial of its serious influenza treatment peramivir.Universal Panel (Nasdaq: PANL) fell to an unexpected loss for the third quarter as revenue plunged.In the broad market, advancing issues barely edged out decliners by a slim margin on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks held steady at 804.